


Third Side of the Moon

by Masterpie5



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Continuation, Gen, Post-The End of Evangelion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28506738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterpie5/pseuds/Masterpie5
Summary: Shinji and Asuka live peaceful lives 10 years after the events of Instrumentality until they are suddenly thrown into another world. A world that doesn't know what Angels are, but are about to very soon.Now they must help battle old and new foes alike to protect this world and stay alive with a little help from their past knowledge and an old acquaintanceAnd get to the bottom of why they are here in the first place.
Relationships: Ikari Shinji/Souryuu Asuka Langley
Comments: 37
Kudos: 46





	1. Zeitgeist

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> Also, this is very much is an Evangelion story so I think you know what to expect in terms of some of the themes, tone, and angst lmao. Hope you enjoy

# Episode 1

#### Zeitgeist

“I’m home,” A tired voice rang from the entrance. Shinji Ikari could hear the snap of the door lock and the clatter of shoes being tossed to the floor. The soft squeaking of socks made its way towards him.  
“Welcome back!” Shinji called over his shoulder. He was in the kitchen giving the bubbling pot of beef stew in front of him a gentle stir.

“What a lovely scent,” Asuka’s disheveled form crept into the kitchen, allured by the aroma, “I am starving.”  
Shinji looked over to her and flashed her a smile before attending to the stew again, “Another long day I assume?”  
“Do you even need to ask? A very long day. What time is it even?” Asuka muttered.  
“A little past 8.”  
“There you go. That long a day.”

And it showed. Whatever sharp appearance she had conjured this morning was now completely gone. It looked like she had been engaged in physical combat rather than the consulting job she supposedly had. Her tie was loose and crooked, the first few buttons of her blouse now undone to let in some air. Her dark iron gray blazer was now wrinkled and creased and her hair looked like she had just gotten out of bed again.

Not to say Shinji looked any better. In fact, he actually did look the same as he when he had gotten out of bed. The only difference now was the cheap plaid apron thrown over his white shirt and sweatpants.

Asuka peeked over his shoulder into the pot, resting her chin on him, “This better be reheated.”  
“Nope,” Shinji said, “fresh cooking out the pot.”  
He felt a firm hand grip the back of his head and give it a shake, “Dummy, I told you to eat first whenever I’m this late for work.”  
“I don’t mind, really,” Shinji said, letting her loosely thrash his head around a bit, “If you can endure it at work I certainly can here. Besides, eating with you is plenty worth it. Would you not say the same?”  
Shinji now turned to her with a feigned pout.  
Asuka scowled and pulled away, “it’s not like you can’t just eat first and sit there with me when I eat. Whatever, I’m gonna go change.”  
Shinji heard her wander off to the bedroom as he switched the stove off. 

***

Asuka returned in a loose t-shirt and pajama pants to a set dining table. They scarfed it down enthusiastically. When they finished she stood up with her empty bowl and swiped up Shinji’s as well, “It was good,” she said, leaving to put the dishes into the sink.  
“See it’s nicer this way don’t you think?” Shinji leaned back onto his chair.  
“What, having it ‘fresh off the pot?’” Asuka said, rinsing the bowls down.  
“No,” Shinji stared absently in front of him, “having dinner with somebody else.”  
Asuka let out a scoff and continued to rinse out the bowls. Shinji snuck a glance at her and saw a hint of a smile on her lips  
And he smiled too. 

They sat around on the couch and watched some television. Not anything live of course. They were DVD copies of some random season of a reality show. It served more of a backdrop to Asuka recounting her day while she rested her head on his lap.  
Setbacks, uncompromising coworkers, problems, issues. She always had a lot to get off her chest. Shinji diligently lent an ear while fiddling with her long auburn hair.  
After an hour or so, Asuka had expended what little remaining energy she had on rants and they decided to head to bed. Asuka silently put her arms out and Shinji scooped her up and carried her over down the hall and placed her in bed. She was practically asleep before her head hit the pillow.  
It was never a good idea to spoil Asuka too much, but she had a long day today and she had to do it all again tomorrow. Shiji climbed into the covers next to her and could feel Asuka curl up closer beside him, her head softly nestled on his shoulder. 

Shinji lied awake, staring up into the ceiling. 

It had been 10 years. 

10 years since Instrumentality. 

It was odd. In the end, such a life changing event didn’t feel so life changing. When he ended Instrumentality, everything was different, but at the same time it wasn’t.  
After he washed up on that beach, he expected to stand up on his feet as a brand new person. One who had learned, who had grown, who had accepted. But he vividly remembered staring over the horizon at the grotesque gargantuan face of Lilith, of Rei, frozen.  
The things he had to do in Eva, The things he experienced in Instrumentality. The things he thought of people and the world. The hatred. The pain. The fear. The loneliness. They were all still there in him. And it was paralyzing.  
When he ended Instrumentality, it wasn’t the reset he was hoping for. Just another chance to keep going. And in all honesty it was all beginning to spiral back to where he started.  
Then Asuka showed up.  
Shinji raised his hand in front of him. The same hand he used to drag Asuka onto the beach. The same hand that had wrapped around her throat. He stared at it through the darkness of the room, his eyes wide. The drone of silence in his ears.  
He was scared when he saw her. She was a wrench thrown into the turmoil his psyche was already in.  
Was she something he wanted to accept again or was she something he needed to dispose of? The final test to get that clean start? Had Instrumentality even ended? Did rejection still even exist? Could he even kill her? 

He brought his hand down and brushed his cheek. The place Asuka had caressed him. He lowered his hand to where Asuka’s hand laid on top of him and softly gripped it, feeling her warmth, The hand she had used. .  
She was here with him. Lying beside him. Just like then.  
So different now, yet it wasn’t.

For a long time, it was just him and Asuka. Wandering around what was left of Japan. Trying to get by with whatever they could find and each other. They did it for 7 years and they got pretty damn good at it if Shinji would say so himself.  
After a period of time living the nomadic life, they settled into a cushy mansion on the outskirts of what they eventually discovered to be Old Kyoto. They had amassed a surplus of supplies and were living rather comfortably before they realized that other people had been coming back for years already.  
Shinji had half a mind to just stay as they were. He was pretty content with just him and Asuka. He was more than happy to give the rest of the world a chance to come back and find out their place on Earth, but as far as he was concerned that was up to them. Shinji felt he already found his. However, Asuka seemed a bit excited to see other people and Shinji would be lying if he said he never wanted to meet another soul again.  
So now they were back in society. Living together in a small humble apartment in a desolate world trying to get back on its feet.  
So different, yet it wasn’t. 

Shinji gently lifted Asuka’s arm from around his waist and slipped out of bed. He quietly stepped out onto the balcony  
Asuka didn’t like it when he smoked. Shinji didn’t really like it either, but he supposed that was the point.  
Asuka couldn’t say much though given the fact she was the reason they had a secret stash of probably all the surviving wine from here back to New Tokyo-3.  
.  
He lit his cigarette and took a drag. He felt the breeze hit his face and carry the curling smoke away. It wasn’t exactly the cool crisp temperature he preferred. In fact, this particular September night was quite muggy.  
Shinji took a seat in one of the balcony chairs and looked up at the night sky. He had seen this view for several years now but he’d be lying if he said he had gotten used to it. A murky black sky glittering with millions of stars. The galaxy on full display in front of him. Although they managed to restore a lot of power throughout the city, light pollution was still at an all time low.  
Not even a satellite blemished the night sky as none had survived the events of Instrumentality. Of course, the trade off for this beautiful 100% natural view was the extinction of telecommunications. It was a topic of great discussion during the rebuild process, but they concluded they had neither the resources nor the coordination to be building phone towers or conducting any satellite space launches any time soon. They had a few radio towers that they took advantage of, including sending a message out to the rest of the world.

Was anyone out there? 

They had yet to receive any answers. 

The fate of the rest of the world outside of Kyoto seemed to be left unknown for now.  
It was a lonely thought, but Shinji never travelled much anyways. He had never even been out of Japan, the only exception being when he met Asuka for the first time in the Pacific.The rest of the world was just pictures and imagination to him. Just like now.  
So different, yet it wasn’t 

And they very much could still be all alone. They knew not everyone was back because it was still there. It was harder to see at night but he could spot it now. The red ring of souls that streaked across the sky, circling the planet.  
It was proof not everyone was here. Not everyone was ready.  
Maybe they never would be. 

Shinji looked back through the balcony doors at Asuka lying in bed under the covers. He watched her figure rise and fall with each breath. Asuka was on the provisional council in Old Kyoto trying to rebuild the city. It had nothing to do with her former status as an Eva pilot, or her connections with NERV. In fact, Shinji was pretty confident no one here even knew what those were at all. People here needed anyone they could and Asuka’s decisiveness and fiery passion was a good fit for the job. Shinji had considered helping out too, but he didn’t see himself fit for the job. He was content with taking care of things at home.

He turned back again to make sure Asuka wasn’t awake and put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the balcony table. Shiji’s eyes wandered upwards again and stopped.  
They only lived on the second story of their complex, but they still had a pretty good view of Kyoto or rather what was left of it. But something new had joined the ruins of the skyline. The silhouette slowly stepped over the buildings like they were stones on the road. Kyoto was never known for its towering cityscape but this thing would have easily stood on par with the tallest skyscrapers of any city. My god, It was huge, enormous.  
It treaded on four long legs and had what looked like antlers, like a deer, but its head hung low, like a dog or wolf. That’s where the resemblance to any creature on earth stopped.  
The inky black body was accented by bony white projections that ran along its back and legs giving it a jaggy appearance. It was like a mountain in both size and appearance. Its legs were solid and sturdy. Its head was carved out like a skull and he could see four bright glowing eyes. It swung to and fro as it surveyed the land below it. 

Shinji stared at the creature, stupefied.  
“An angel?” he whispered to himself. 

As if it heard him, he saw the creature turn, straining its neck, until it was looking directly at Shinji and he felt a chill go down his back. Its eyes were glowing, but Shiji could feel a hollowness behind them. As if it wasn’t even alive. Its gaze was cold, alien. It was an abyss.  
It opened its mouth and it screamed. 

Shinji gasped and felt his chair tip over backwards. His reflexes kicked in and he managed to twist his weight to the side so as to not slam the back of his head, but no matter what he knew this wasn’t going to end well. There was a heavy thud as he slammed onto his side, sprawling out of the chair. The loud crash echoed through the quiet night before everything faded back to silence.  
Shinji laid here for a moment letting out a quiet groan. He weakly looked back over his shoulder inside.  
Didn’t look like Asuka had stirred. Good.  
He shakily got back onto his feet and looked back over the balcony at a monster-free skyline. His breathing rate had spiked. He could feel another passing breeze brush against his burning face drenched in sweat. 

Shinji has had chilling nightmares about Angels before. It was a frequent problem then and even now he and Asuka would occasionally be struck with one.  
But this was way different. He sure as hell wasn’t asleep. And those nightmares could get real intense but this was something else. It felt so real. So vivid.  
What the hell was that? 

***

The screeching buzz of their alarm stirred the two people in bed. Shinji reached over and clicked it off before sitting up with a yawn. After the strange vision he had, Shinji had quite the restless night to say the least, but he still managed to squeeze in some rest. He loudly sighed and rubbed his temples before turning to Asuka lying beside him. He gently shook her shoulder.  
Asuka loudly groaned and rolled over to him, burying her face in his stomach, “don’t make me go,” she whined, her voice muffled in his shirt, “I’m going to call in sick.”  
“You can’t do that, Asuka,” Shinji chuckled, “come on. I’ll get some coffee going for you.”  
Asuka let out another groan of despair before Shinji playfully tossed her aside..  
He swung out of bed and stepped out of the room. Asuka watched him leave. 

***

He could hear the sound of running water come and go as Asuka completed her quick morning shower. Shinji sat in the kitchen silently staring at the coffee maker, still thinking about that dream. That wasn’t even an Angel he had seen before. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions assuming it was an Angel, but what else could it be?  
“Coffee ready?” Asuka appeared next to him. Shinji jumped at the question. He looked over at the silent coffee maker with their brew ready. It had been for some time.  
“Oh, it looks like it. Let me pour you some,” Shinji said. 

***

“I’m off,” Asuka said, coffee in one hand and a curt wave with the other. She was all showered and dressed up again, ready for another day, another battle.  
“Be safe,” Shinji smiled.  
Asuka stood there at the doorway for a moment. Shinji cocked his head, “what’s wrong, forget something?”  
“No, no,” she said quietly. She paused for a moment before blurting out, “are you okay?”  
“Me?” Shinji asked.  
“Yeah, you seemed kind of, I don’t know, off this morning.”  
Shinji scratched his head. They had only been awake for one hour and she had been in the shower for half that time. Shinji sometimes couldn’t tell if it was scary or touching how fast Asuka could sniff out when something was bothering him. Maybe he was just that bad at hiding it.  
“It’s nothing, just a little tired this morning” he tried to wave off with a smile, “you should get to work.”  
“Don’t even try that, you’re a terrible liar,” Asuka jeered. She shuffled her feet, “you don’t need to hide anything you know. From me.” 

The Asuka he knew 10 years ago would probably have given up her own life before she even thought of saying something so from the heart. And the Shinji from 10 years ago probably would have done something similar before he answered.  
But their connection in Instrumentality and the 10 years they spent together had yielded some fruit. They had all but mastered the art of understanding and dealing with each other. That’s not to say they were on the same wavelength every time, but it was generally a waste of time to try and hide something from the other. Like he was doing now.  
No AT fields here. 

Shinji sighed and stepped up to Asuka. He laced his hand with hers which Asuka looked up to him in surprise at his sudden approach.  
“It’s a long story. It was just another nightmare last night. It kind of got to me, but I’m okay. I’ll tell you when you get back. Sorry for worrying you,” Shinji leaned down and gave her a soft reassuring kiss on the forehead. Shinji had outpaced Asuka in height over the years.  
“Hmph,” Asuka huffed, “no need to be sorry. You better tell me all about it tonight got it? It’s going to be bothering me alllll~ day,” she sang innocuously. “If you’re going to be all frazzled, try and take it easy for the day today, okay? I shouldn’t be late again so I’ll make dinner.’  
“I’ll be fine, no need to baby me, Asuka,” Shinji said.  
“You are a baby,” Asuka stuck her tongue out at him, but she cracked into a giggle when Shinji clutched his heart, hyperbolically reeling from the insult.  
“I’m the one who carried you to bed last night, you know,” Shinji said.  
“Don’t make me pour the rest of my adult coffee on you before I head to my adult job,” Asuka said, smugly tugging on her suit.  
“I guess that means you’re ready to make your own coffee in the morning and wash all your own clothes.”  
“Wait, no, Shinji, I didn’t mean it,” she said sweetly.  
They both burst into another fit of laughter. Just like everyday, Shinji wondered what he would do without her.  
“I better go now for real.” She said once more, “I’m off.”  
“Be safe.”

#### The Wind of Change

Shinji’s morning routine usually consisted of simple household chores. Today he had to do some laundry. The plumbing system was dubious in Kyoto as a whole but it was pretty reliable in a couple populated areas of Kyoto thanks to a team of diligent plumbers that stepped up.  
He tossed all the clothes in the washing machine and ran the load. He laid out all of Asuka’s formal clothes she used for work. She was running out of clean ones to wear, he would need to head over for dry cleaning soon. Maybe tomorrow. It was amazing how much some people still cared about appearances even in these times. It would have been funny if it weren’t so outrageous. 

Shinji next went to knock out the dishes. He was never over how fast two people could fill up a sink with dirty dishes. He went through scrubbing down all the plates and bowls. He put the last plate into the drying rack and turned off the sink. But as he turned away he could still faintly hear the sound of running water. He knitted his eyebrows and turned back to the sink. The faucet stood motionless.  
He looked over the washing machine but it was also motionless, done with its cycle. Shinji could still hear it though. The sound of water. It was louder now but still muted. It was coming from outside. 

Shinji walked up to the window and stared.  
Titanic volumes of water were rushing down the streets. It was a flash flood with a clear sky.  
Shinji opened the window and stuck his head outside watching as the torrent of water washed away everything in the street below him. He looked around trying to see where it was coming from, but it seemed like it was coming from every street alley and around every corner of the block. When suddenly the smell hit him.  
His eyes widened and he looked back down at the water. It wasn’t water. Was it blood?  
No. LCL. He was certain.  
He looked up again and saw her. Hovering above the flood of LCL in the alleyway across from him.  
Stop this.  
His head started to ring and a sharp pain stabbed through his head. It felt like someone skewered a cold rod down his ears. Shinji clutched both sides of his head and he pulled back into the kitchen. He staggered around blindly and felt himself slam against one of the walls and slide down onto the floor. The roar of the water seemed to be getting even louder even as he covered his ears, it was like it was piercing directly in his head.  
Even through the flashing pain of his head, he could feel his feet get wet. Then his ankles, his knees. Shinji peeked out of one of his skewered eyes and saw that the LCL was beginning to fill up the apartment and rapidly. Shinji scrambled back up to his feet, but couldn’t do any more than that. He could himself completely lose control of his breathing, hyperventilating. His body froze up.  
The LCL wouldn’t stop. It climbed up past his waist, his shoulders, his chin. Just as it was about to consume him once more, Shinji let out a shout.  
He fell to his knees onto the kitchen floor trying to get his breathing under control. The floor was dry, the only signs of any fluid was his own perspiration dripping down his soaked forehead. 

Something was going on. This wasn’t right. What was happening to him?  
Well right now he was pretty sure he was having a panic attack or something. He needed to calm down.

Shinji staggered over to one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of pills they had. He placed it in front of him and took a deep breath. They had been making an effort to rely on these less and less. Mostly because pharmaceutical drugs were a pretty limited resource right now. Shinji shouted in frustration and returned the bottle to the cabinet.  
He went to the bedroom and clambered around for his cigarettes. He swore when he remembered he left them out in the balcony last night. He stood in front of the balcony door and sighed. No, he probably shouldn’t be doing that either. Asuka didn’t like it. Plus, he wasn’t about to go outside and possibly get assaulted by some hallucination again.  
Instead, Shinji headed back into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of sake. He gave it a swig. Depressant, right? Is that how it worked? Shinji swallowed it quickly. He never did like the taste of alcohol and his face contorted into the shape of disgust as it went down his throat. He could feel the buzz though. He grabbed the sake bottle and was about to pour himself another glass when he smacked his lips a couple time. Man, he really didn’t like the taste. And was this really a better way. Probably not. Asuka wouldn’t be pleased to come home to him wasted. She would probably be more upset that he drank her alcohol.  
With another shout, Shinji put the sake bottle back and instead poured himself a glass of water now. 

He stomped over to the radio player in the living room and pressed play and flopped onto the sofa trying to control his racing breath and thoughts. He expected one of his more soothing classical music CDs to start playing but instead, one of Asuka’s rock CDs started to let it rip.  
Shinji growled in frustration, but he didn’t make a move to change it. He lay there on the sofa with his eyes closed. Trying to distract himself with it. Meditating. It was only 1040. 

***

Shinji eyed the clock. 1740. 

He had another vision. A couple hours back. He had turned on the television to pass the time and help get his mind off things but the brightness suddenly intensified until he couldn’t see. Even when he turned away, even when he had closed his eyes he could feel the burning light. It scorched his eyes, his skin, his mind And he saw the afterimage of her again. He didn’t want to see her. 

He wanted to see Asuka. She should be home any minute now. 

Shinji sat on the floor in the living room, with his eyes closed, waiting. The rock music still playing in the background. He should have changed it, but he was too scared to even move. 

Shinji heard a knock at the front door and instantly got to his feet and bolted for the door. He needed to see Asuka. He needed to feel her touch, hear her words.  
He fumbled over the lock, flipping it open in a frenzy and went to open the door when Asuka knocked on the door again. And Shinji froze, his hand hovering over the door knob. The sound of the knock ringing in his ear. It had hit him. He was so focused on seeing Asuka that he barely even registered it.

Asuka had the keys, why the hell was she knocking?

Shinji’s eyes slowly drifted to the door.  
“Who is it?” he asked.  
He was answered with silence. He felt his spine tingle as a chill went down his body. He was reminded that no one else actually lived in the complex with them.  
“Who is it?” he asked again, louder, more aggressively.  
This time, he heard a soft squeak. But not from the other side of the door. Shinji’s eyes darted to the door knob.  
It had begun to turn.  


Shinji’s hand snapped to the door knob but it was too late. Something slammed into the door, swinging it open. Shinji braced and shouldered into it, stopping it in its tracks. With a shout, he pushed forward and slammed it back close. His hand went for the lock, but whatever was one the other side responded with another voracious push, popping the door back open.  
“Stop! What are you doing!” Shinji frantically shouted as he struggled to push back.  
This time, Shinji was terrified to hear someone respond, “Please, let me in!”  
It was the voice of a young child. A boy no older than twelve begging for his life. He was screaming at the top of his lungs through tears. “Let me in, Mister! Please!”  
“You need to relax first, please stop!”  
“Please let me inside!”  
Shinji would have been inclined to be more cooperative but the impact coming from behind the door was ravenous with more force than any child would have had. Each voracious impact felt like it would just break the door. It was banging, rapping against it, shoving up against it in desperation, crying, shouting. The beating against the door droned in his ear.  
“Mister, you need to let me in! Please let me in! Why won’t you let me in!”  
Shinji just gritted his teeth and put his back up against the door to force it close.Trying to block out the shouting and the pounding on the other side of the door.

This isn't real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real. 

“Ikari-kun.” 

This voice came from inside the house. No, he didn’t want to hear that. He didn’t want this. Shinji closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears and he screamed, “Stay away!” 

“Shinji, it’s me, let me inside!” Asuka’s voice now rang from the other side, “Are you okay?” 

This one caught him more off guard. He felt his eyes bolt open and his body slack. The door pushed against him one more time and he felt himself sprawl forward. The door swung open and he quickly scrambled to his feet, body tense. 

Asuka stood at the doorway looking up and down at him, panting, her eyes widened in panic, “Shinji…?” her voice trailed off seeing the wild look in his eyes, the state he was in. She took a step forward into the house, “what are you doing? What’s wrong?” 

She wasn’t real. She wasn’t real. 

“Get back!” Shinji shouted. He stomped forward, feigning a pounce.  
Asuka flinched, but held her ground. 

“Shinji, it’s me,” she pleaded tearfully, “please, calm down.”  
Asuka again took a careful step forward. 

Shinji stood there and quietly let her take another step. Then another. He wanted her to be real. His desire for Asuka to really be here was greater than any fear he felt of whatever else could be happening. He kept a steely watchful eye on her but allowed her to reach him.  
Asuka slowly and gently took his hand and placed it on her cheek, “Hey, it’s me, see?”  
She reached out and now put her other hand on his cheek. She drew closer until their noses were almost touching. He could feel her breath against his lips. Her hand carefully squeezed his, “it’s me, stupid,” she said again under her breath.  
After a beat, Shinji wrapped her in a hug and he could feel Asuka return the embrace. He half expected her to just vanish, or eat him, or something, still not convinced this wasn’t another apparition. But she never did. They dropped to the floor, tangled together.  
She was here with him. 

They lay there hugging each other for a few moments, Asuka trying to anchor Shinji back to reality. She had a lot of questions, but she knew he wasn’t in a state to do any explaining just yet. But softly, from the living room she could hear something.  
“Is that one of my German Rock CD’s playing?” Asuka pulled back, with a small smile.  
“It’s just what was in the player,” Shiji said defensively.  
Asuka threw her head back in a laugh. She got to her feet and offered a hand to him, “Mr. Ikari, could I have this dance?”  
“Why Ms. Langley, you are too kind,” Shinji took her hand and they twirled into the living room. Asuka leaned back and cranked up the volume before returning to Shinji’s arms. Even after 10 years they were still far from decent dancers, but they didn’t have to be. They moved through the room, swaying to the beat of the soft rock, heads resting on each other. Maybe this music wasn’t so bad, Shinji thought. 

Angel attacks.  
Instrumentality.  
Post-apocalyptic world. 

Whatever this was, they would face it together, just like they had then. 

So different, yet it wasn’t. 

That was the last thing Shinji remembered. 

A bright ray of sunshine pierced his eyes. Shinji flinched and raised one of his hands to shield his eyes. He was holding a payphone in one of his hands. Shinji frowned in confusion. He hesitantly placed the phone back on the receiver and looked around.  
The first thing he noticed wasn’t the crumbling buildings crawling with vegetation. It wasn’t the rusting cars lined up on the torn up roads. It wasn’t the ghostly uneasy feeling of a completely empty metro area, devoid of human life.  
It was a young girl. Staring back at him from a distance. 

Suddenly, a flock of birds scattered into the air behind him. Shinji looked up and watched them disappear into the sky. He looked back over.  
The girl was gone.  
And the deafening drone of heavy military gunships slowly enveloped his ears.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinji finds himself in a strange new world that isn't all as new as he initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.

# Episode 2

A bright ray of sunshine pierced his eyes. Shinji flinched and raised one of his hands to shield his eyes. He was holding a payphone in one of his hands. Shinji frowned in confusion. He hesitantly placed the phone back on the receiver and looked around.  
The first thing he noticed wasn’t the crumbling buildings crawling with vegetation. It wasn’t the rusting cars lined up on the torn up roads. It wasn’t the ghostly uneasy feeling of a completely empty metro area, devoid of human life.  
It was a young girl. Staring back at him from a distance. 

Suddenly, a flock of birds scattered into the air behind him. Shinji looked up and watched them disappear into the sky. He looked back over.  
The girl was gone.  
And the deafening drone of heavy military gunships slowly enveloped his ears. 

#### Naga Attack

Shinji quickly ran to the cover of a nearby alleyway and peeked up at the dozens of UN heavy gunships that now littered the sky. He could feel a light gust from their propulsion blow through his hair, the whine of their engines blasting in his ear. Shinji stomped on the ground - it was firm underneath him.  
This wasn’t one of those hallucinations he was being plagued with. He was physically in a different place. He was here.  
Wherever here was.  
Shinji wished he had some time to organize his thoughts, to gauge his situation, but it seems that’ll have to wait for later. 

All together, the gunships began firing a wave of rockets that screamed over into the distance. Shinji tried to follow where they were firing, but his line of sight was obscured by a row of toppled office buildings.  
Whatever they were shooting at was close though. Shiji covered his ears as the deafening sound of missile impact erupted through the air. He swayed, feeling the tremor underneath his feet. That couldn’t have been any more than a few blocks away.  
He needed to get some distance. 

Shinji headed back out to the street ready to take off. But just as he was about to step out, a jet black Main Battle Tank roared down the road in front of him. Shinji jumped back in surprise, scrambling over to behind a pile of rubble and watched as an entire column of tanks followed suit. He subconsciously counted them as they passed by, but he lost track after 20 or so.  
Shinji felt the world around him rock again as another explosion sounded in the distance. The cracking of gunfire was beginning to pick up now. Even closer.

Shinji tapped his foot impatiently, anxiously, as the tank line finished passing by. After he saw the last one rumble out of sight, he made sure to wait a couple beats before leaping out.  
But once again, just as he was about to exit the alley, he was interrupted by another tank. But this one wasn’t driving.  


It had dropped from the air.  


The flaming hulk of metal and oil first slammed into the building corner, spraying dust and cement. Shinji skidded to a halt and fell into a fetal position making himself as small a target as possible, shielding himself from the debris. He could hear a horrific groan as the remains of the tank dropped down and made contact with the ground right in front of him.

Shinji slowly looked up, coughing from the dust and smoke entering his lungs. He was unharmed, but the flaming wreckage of the vehicle was blocking his way out now.  
He gave a fleeting thought about the people inside the tank, but it was clear that no one could have survived what he saw in front of him. 

It was a bit of a wake up call. This was real. 

Looks like the universe didn’t want him leaving through this road. He turned around searching for another way out. The alleyway luckily did not lead to a dead end. He could see the other end open up to another street behind a chain link fence. Shinji quickly scaled it and sprinted out into the street. He made a beeline straight out of the alley up the road. Away from the commotion. He didn’t even stop to look around. He was pretty sure he had a good idea of what might be attacking right now. 

_But why? What’s going on here? What is this?_ Shinji thought.  
It felt just like he was back before Third Impact somehow.  
One moment he was with Asuka in their apartment and the next he was here. But the thing was, it wasn’t instantaneous.  
Shinji could feel that there was a cloudy inbetween somewhere. Like waking up after a long dream, unable to discern a single detail. Something happened between then and now but he could not recall anything. And his current situation was absolutely not helping him focus.

Shinji looked up and watched more gunships hover by over him, racing the opposite direction he was running. The air was all but drowned out in gunfire and explosions now. The smell of metal and smoke filled his nostrils. Shinji just kept running. He didn’t exactly have a plan except to gain distance. None of the questions he had would matter if he simply died here. 

Shinji was crossing a large intersection when he heard the blast of cannon fire. But this one was close, it sounded like it was right by him. He flinched and reflexively looked over to his right to see another column of armored vehicles crossing the intersection a block down. Except these were driving the same direction he was. And in a hurry.  
They were running too. 

Shinji turned back and saw something behind them giving chase. He caught glimpses of it bobbing over the rooftops. It was big. It was fast. Shinji cleared the intersection, losing vision on both the troops and whatever was behind them, but could hear the gunfire continue loud and clear. 

_Yes, how about we avoid that._  
He peeled left into another alleyway, trying to pick up the pace but Shinji was already starting to feel the burn in his legs and lungs. It had been some time since he did any kind extensive running. He was surprised he hadn’t already passed out from the effort, or from anxiety if anything.

He turned out of the alley back and found waiting for him a wall of more tanks and light armor lined up at the end of the block. Shinji skidded to a halt putting his hands in the air as their gun turrets rotated to face his direction.  
“Wait don’t shoot!” Shinji shouted but then he felt the ground shift from under him. He staggered trying to get his balance back but crashed into the floor. Something big had just dropped behind him.  
Shinji whipped and looked up at the towering monster in front of him, It was… something.  
Something. But, not an Angel. 

Its size was pretty comparable though. It was massive, taking up the entire city block. It was hunched over on all fours with webbed feet and huge thick claws. Its skin was slimy and a mossy green and covered in fins and sails. It had bulging eyes on the sides of its massive head and a wide underbite jaw.  
That was all the details Shinji could absorb before a High Explosive round exploded between him and the massive creature. Shinji felt the fiery heat bloom and he went to instinctively shield himself. Shinji closed his eyes and shouted as the bombardment of artillery and tank fire showered the creature. His ears were ringing and he could feel the air around him burning up.  
Looks like this was it.  
He was going to die. 

_Sorry Asuka, I’m going to die._

Shinji laid there for a few stretched seconds when everything suddenly seemed to quiet down. The shooting had stopped.  
Shinji cracked open an eye, ready to see the afterlife. But he still saw the gray concrete sidewalk he had fallen on beneath him. He inspected his hands. Then his body. He was shocked to see he was intact and completely unharmed. He looked up, now half hoping to be back in this apartment again, waking up from another lucid nightmare. But that wasn’t it either

He saw a hand. A giant hand. Cupped around him, shielding him. Shinji looked up and over behind him, tracing the hand up its arm, past its shoulder, to its huge body sprouting from behind the buildings.  
This one he knew.

This was an Evangelion. 

It wasn’t a Unit he recognized though. It was a gleaming black color accented with a bold blue. It looked cleaner and more polished than even Unit 02 had ever been. Everything about it just flashed with modernity.  
The Eva sprung into action, leaping forward, stepping over Shinji towards the strange creature which had seemed to have been stunned by the military’s barrage. Shinji watched the giant mech shoulder into it, ramming the monster into the buildings causing the row of structures to cave in, burying the creature in a mountain of rubble. 

Shinji again balled up as the Earth shook beneath him and he was blasted by a cloud of dust. 

The Eva suddenly turned back to him and crouched down, stretching a hand out to him. Shinji scrambled back away from its reach until he was against a building wall with no place to go. The hand continued to inch closer and closer but paused right in front of him. Then, an entry plug appeared out from the Eva’s back. A gush of LCL splashed down to the floor as the entry plug hatch opened.

A young man donning a plugsuit popped out of the hatch and began waving him over. He could hear him shouting, “Come on! That thing’s going to get back up. Hurry!”  
He was inviting him into the entry plug. 

Shinji stared at the Eva for a couple moments. He could see the darkened eyes of the Evangelion staring back at him. He already knew its horrible secrets. The entry plug. That accursed place. He looked at the swirling LCL that had spilled out of the plug. Shinji could almost retch. 

“Come on!” the pilot yelled.  
Shinji looked at the pilot. And then everything seemed to go into slow motion 

He felt the sun beating against his face. He realized how sweaty he was, how tired he already was. He felt his breaths coming out in long ragged gasps. He saw a swarm of attack helicopters in tight formation pass overhead against the clear blue sky. The battle was still raging all around him. He looked at the pilot still desperately trying to wave him over, the rubble the mysterious monster was buried under beginning to move.  
And he knew what he had to do. 

He had to stay alive. He had to stay alive and somehow get back to his home.  
To Asuka. 

And to do that he had to once again get in an Eva. 

Shinji licked his lips and got to his feet. He scrambled up the giant arm of the Eva and took the hand of the pilot. He pulled him in and together they dove into the entry plug.  
The hatch closed above them and they were enveloped in darkness.

Nothing happened at first, just the sound of the two people splashing around in LCL. Finally, the entry plug around him came alive. Lights clicked on, screens flickered to life, showing their surroundings. He heard an automated female voice begin to speak.  
“Hatch secured. Entry plug re-engaged. Feeding in reserve LCL.”  
There was the sound of gushing liquid and the LCL levels began to rise up around them again. 

“The liquid in here is oxygenated, so just take it in,” the pilot shouted back at him, “it’s going to feel weird at first, but just try and relax. You won’t drown.”

The pilot was busy fiddling with some of his controls, so he didn’t see, but he probably would have been surprised when Shinji took in the LCL as naturally as he did. Shinji closed his eyes as he let the orange fluid enter his mouth, his nose, his lungs. As it filled his body, it also filled his mind with memories. Stepping into Eva. The rush of combat. Fear. Pain. It all made him feel sick. He was just glad he didn't actually have to do any piloting. 

“Reestablishing connection,” the automated voice sounded.  
Not a moment passed before a shrill female voice echoed through the plug, “Command to Unit 01. Shokaku, what the hell are you doing!? You are out of position, and almost entered the line of fire! And why did we just get an entry plug disengagement alert?”  
“Sorry about that command,” the pilot said, still furiously tuning different instruments across his control panel. Apparently his name was Shokaku, “It’s, uhhhh, probably because I disengaged the entry plug. There was a civilian in the combat zone. So I just picked him up real quick.” 

“You WHAT?” the voice asked in disbelief, “Do not tell me he’s in the entry plug right now.”  
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”  
“No need to answer, we can see above normal contamination levels and thought noise in there, you idiot,” the voice said. 

“I’ll take full responsibility when I get back,” he shouted, “but first, tell that armor battalion to pull out,” His voice carried a flair of confidence as he flipped a final few switches and firmly gripped the control sticks on either side of him. The Eva moved with him, stretching out its shoulders, ready for battle. “I have some Naga to fight!” 

As if on cue, the rubble in front of them burst open and the creature angrily slithered back out, squaring up with the Eva.  
Shinji leaned up against the pilot seat and watched as the giant monster stretched open its mouth revealing rows of razor thin needle-like teeth. A detail he had missed before. Shinji reeled a bit.  
“First time seeing one up close?” the pilot asked.  
“Something like that,” Shinji said nonchalantly.  
“Well, things are about to get a lot uglier,” the pilot said, “if you don’t do well with violence I suggest you don’t watch too closely. Oh and don’t worry about what command was saying. You’ll be fine after this is all over. You’re going to be okay now.” 

The creature let out a guttural alien clicking noise and leapt forward, baring its teeth, claws ready.  
The pilot punched forward charging at the Naga as well. 

Just as they were about to clash, the pilot juked left, letting the Naga bring its teeth down on empty air. He withdrew what looked like a Prog Knife and swiftly brought it down on the top of its head. The creature gave a high pitched whine and bucked around trying to shake free, its teeth thrashing. The pilot wrapped his arm around its neck in a headlock, trying to subdue the monster as the other hand continued to drive the knife deeper into its skull. Shinji could see clear ichor ooze from the wound. 

There was a flash of red from inside the cockpit with a high pitched alarm.  
“Second contact, Left side!” the command voice shouted.  
“I see it!” 

Shinji looked over to his left and gasped. 

There was a second one. A second one of those giant creatures. 

It was already in the air, mid leap, pouncing straight towards them. With a grunt, the pilot disengaged with first Naga he was currently wrestling with, pushing it away, leaving the Prog Knife behind in its head. He used the momentum of the push to roll backwards out of the way of the second Naga as it crashed into the ground, spiking up dust into the air. 

It was similar to the first in size and in its texture, having the same slimy looking skin and fins, but its build was slightly different. Whereas the first one had a larger head and jaw, looking more like a piranha, this one had a longer snout, reminding Shinji more of a crocodile.  
It turned to them, snarling. Shiji could see behind it the first Naga still ready to fight, the knife sticking out of its head agitating it more than anything. 

"There's two..." Shinji frowned. 

But the pilot did not seem at all surprised, "Don't worry, I got it all under control." 

Without hesitation, he reached over, grabbing a large abandoned truck beside him and chucked it at the second Naga. And he charged again.

_Was he going to fight both? Without a weapon?_

The second Naga bowed its head, protecting itself as the truck slammed against it, but the pilot took this opportunity to fly past it towards the first one again. The first Naga gaped open its mouth and chomped at the pilot, but he ducked in low, getting an arm underneath the Naga’s huge jaw. He hugged the monster around the base of its neck before lifting it up and slamming it down on its back on the road, the asphalt spider webbing in cracks from the impact. He climbed on top of the squirming creature, trapping it underneath him. It let out a final cry as he pulled the knife out of its head and thrust it into its exposed underside, giving it a firm twist. 

The pilot turned around just in time to see the second Naga once again leaping onto him, tackling him from behind. The giant beings collided and the pilot tilted his sticks and both the mech and the monster tumbled over, rolling across the floor, tearing up the street as they wrestled for position.  
They came to a stop, with the Eva down on the floor and the Naga writhing on top of him, trying to bring its teeth down on him for a killing strike. its jagged teeth snapping right in front of the Eva’s head. The Eva had a firm grip on its shoulder and neck, keeping it at bay.  
“Gotcha,” the pilot declared triumphantly. He pulled one of the triggers on his control sticks. A section of the Eva’s right shoulder pylon opened up and fired a volley of spikes straight into the bottom side of the Naga’s jaw. The monster roared and thrashed violently before finally falling limp, letting the Eva push it off of itself and get back on its feet. 

The pilot let out a whoop, “Unit 01 to Command. The two Contacts in Sector 04 have been eliminated.”  
“Good work Unit 01. Unit 03 just cleaned up Sector 02. That was the last of them. You can head back to base.”  
The pilot pumped his fist in victory.  
Just like that, it seemed it was over.  
Shinji breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. 

##### ***

_Children of Lilim, Children of Lilith, Children of Me.  
You I know. You I trust. You I am.  
Three of me in Three of you.  
Three spaces, three times, one bond.  
I ask of you once more..._

Shinji gagged a bit as the LCL was ejected from the entry plug. The shape of someone washing away.  
The hatch opened and Shinji stepped out from the entry plug first. They were in a huge hangar room where the Evangelion was now idle and docked.  
As soon as he set his first foot out of the Eva on the docking platform, he was surrounded by a swarm of security troops in heavy armor, sub machine guns fixed on him.  
The welcoming committee.  
Shinji sheepishly put his hands up as burly men in dark suits and sunglasses stepped up to him. He was roughly shoved up against the nearest wall and handcuffed behind his back. 

They thoroughly searched him. Shinji hadn’t really had the time to think about it, but he realized he was wearing different clothes than when he was in the apartment last. Instead of the white shirt and sweatpants, he had a white collared shirt and some nice slacks. Further proof that there must have been some passage of time between now and then. They turned out his pockets and patted him down in every nook and cranny, turning up nothing. 

“Hey, easy with the guy!”  
He could hear the pilot hop out of the entry plug and head way over towards them. 

The men loosened their hold on him and allowed Shinji to look over and face the pilot. 

“You alright, mister?” the pilot asked, clasping his shoulders.  
“Thanks to you,” Shinji laughed nervously.  
_Mister, huh._  
The pilot definitely wasn’t as young as when he piloted Eva, but he clearly wasn’t quite Shinji’s current age either. Maybe 19 or so.  
He was a pretty dashing fellow. He was well built, the plug suit only accenting his lean body. He had short rough black hair, and a pearly smile. He seemed friendly enough. He didn’t need to save Shinji back there and certainly didn’t have to step up now. Even with the menacing guards surrounding him, he felt more at ease with him. 

“Glad to hear it,” the pilot smirked, “but for real, what the heck were you doing in the NDZ?” 

“Please leave the questioning for us,” Another voice now cut in. Shinji recognized the voice as the one he was hearing from the entry plug. The guards around them stepped away, clearing a path for a uniformed woman approaching them, carrying a stack of reports under one of her arms. 

“Captain Amagi,” the pilot saluted her. He was met with a sharp chop to the forehead, “Ow, what was that for?” 

“You idiot, you know what that’s for,” she growled.  
“Come on,” the pilot said, “what was I supposed to do, leave him there?” It seemed the pilot's insistence was falling on deaf ears. The captain had already turned to one of the security guards conferring with him for a moment about something. He could see the guard shake his head. 

She turned back to Shinji now, eyeing him up and down. She had on a gruff expression of distrust but it suddenly melted in a warming smile when she stepped to speak to him  
“I am glad to see you aren’t hurt, but we are going to have to bring you down to HQ and ask you a few questions, is that alright?” she asked politely, “I hope you understand and cooperate with us.”  
Shinji didn’t respond at first. He absently stared at the woman. 

God, she reminded him so much of Misato.  
Not necessarily the face or anything. Shinji wouldn’t think they were related. But her stature, her presentation, the look in her eyes.  
Shinji noticed he was taller than Captain Amagi. Taller than Misato had been. Shinji felt a melancholic wave of nostalgia hit him as he was reminded of the passage of time. 

“Uhm, hello, sir?” the captain spoke up again a look of concern crossing her face.

Shinji shook himself out of the daze and nodded in compliance, “Right, yes. That should be fine.”  
Amagi smiled again, “thank you, sir. Please follow these men out. They’ll drive you to our HQ where you’ll just answer a few questions and sign a few things. I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.” 

Before he was led away, Shinji looked back, “Hey, thanks again,” Shinji said to the pilot, “But I didn’t catch your name?”  
The pilot gave him a confused smile, “You’re a weird one, you know that? I’m Shokaku Shinji. The pilot of Unit 01?”  
Shinji raised his eyebrows in intrigue.  
“Ah is it clicking?” Shokaku asked, flashing him a point and a wink, “I’m sure you’ve had to have seen a poster or commercial with me somewhere.”  
Shinji nodded slowly, A small smile of disbelief forming on his lips. “Yeah, that's it. Something like that.” 

The guards tugged Shinji along. He obediently followed, but he was lost in his own head, the gears in his mind were turning. It seems he was being arrested for some kind of espionage. Ironically, Shinji thought going with them was a good opportunity to actually learn more about what was going on here. If this HQ is what he thought it was, he had a feeling he could probably get a few more answers once he got there.

But he already knew one thing for sure. Wherever he was, it wasn’t his world anymore. But it was eerily close. Uncannily close.  
The monsters. The Eva. The captain. The pilot. Even this place at first glance looked like NERV.  
“So different, yet the same,” Shinji whispered.  
Three spaces, three times, one bond. Someone whispered back. 

Captain Amagi watched the guards take the mysterious man away. Shokaku stepped up next to her.  
“You’re really taking him down all the way down to HQ? I still don’t understand what the big deal is anyways. This isn’t the first time we’ve caught someone trying to sneak a peek in the NDZ. And it’s not like what we do there is top secret. We release a lot of our operations as promotional footage anyways,” he said.  
“Yes, but something fishy is going on today,” she mused, “...He’s the third...” 

Shokaku frowned and looked over at her, but Amagi didn’t elaborate further. He didn’t push. He trusted Amagi to tell him what he needed to know. 

“Speaking of fishy, this Naga attack was all sorts of weird,” Shokaku said.  
Amagi looked over at him, “you noticed too?” She flipped through a few pages of the reports she was carrying, “despite there being a record breaking number of 9 Naga making landfall today and getting 70% through the NDZ, the destruction ratio was only at 2.” Destruction ratio typically averaged in the double digits. 

“This might sound weird but it didn’t feel like they were attacking this time,” Shokaku said, “I think they were running.” 

#### Reunions

The guards escorted Shinji through a maze of hallways and a series of elevators before finally arriving at a dimly lit garage. An armored armored personnel carrier and a convoy of Humvees were waiting for them. He ducked into the light armor and sat in one of the seats lined up against the side of the vehicle. 

There were already people sitting alongside the other row of seats. He could see more guards sporting guns surrounding another person in handcuffs.  
This one was a woman in a dark red dress and long auburn hair. She looked up as he entered the vehicle and they made eye contact. His heart skipped a beat. 

It was Asuka.  
Not someone who looked like Asuka. This was Asuka Langley Soryu. His Asuka. 

They held their gaze for a few beats, but Shinji slowly turned away and calmly went to take his seat.  
Inside he was screaming as loud as he could. He was buzzing with excitement and heaving a sigh of relief simultaneously. Shinji had been ready to fight tooth and nail against this strange parallel world to get back to his own. To Asuka. But she was right here!  
They had to play it cool though. They were still being arrested after all. They just had to take care of all this and they could then work from there. 

Asuka had different ideas. 

As Shinji took his seat he heard shouting and shuffling feet. Shinji looked up and felt Asuka slam against him, burying her face into his chest. Shinji looked up as the guards furiously approached them, drawing their weapons.  
“Hey, hey, woah, woah!” he shouted trying to calm them down, “We know each other is all, please.”  
The guards hesitantly backed down, weapons were still drawn.  
“Do you really know who I am, idiot Shinji?” Asuka asked. Her face was buried into him, muffling her voice, but he could still hear the strain behind her words.  
Shinji sighed, “I know who you are Asuka.”  
Asuka looked up with a tearful smile of relief.  
Shinji then received a blunt kick to the shin.  
“Ack!”  
“Why did you just ignore me then! I was scared you know!” Asuka seethed, “One minute we were in the apartment and then I was in this weird base in this weird world where I don’t know what the hell is going on, and I thought I’d never see you again and....”  
“I’m sorry, just…Hey!” Shinji said, raising his feet up, avoiding another kick, “I was going to talk to you later, this just didn’t seem like the place.” 

“It isn’t,” Captain Amagi affirmed. The two looked up as she ducked into the vehicle and closed the door behind her. She gestured to one of the guards who responded with a curt nod. He stepped forward and hoisted Asuka away from Shinji, leading her back to her seat.  
“Watch it, buddy,” Asuka snarled at him. She shrugged him off and plopped down in the seat herself.  
“We’ll discuss later, let’s get through this first,” Shinji said to her.  
Asuka nodded. 

“You two know each other?” Amagi asked.  
Asuka turned away from her defiantly, not answering the question.  
“I think there’s a lot we can learn from each other once we get to wherever you’re taking us for questioning,” Shinji smiled affably and he leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes. Getting comfortable for the ride. 

Amagi’s eyes burned into him, trying to figure out what he meant. Without looking away, she reached over to a radio on her shoulder, “Hermes-1, we are ready for transport. Roll out.” 

Shinji felt the vehicle churned as the wheels started turning. They were off.  
Asuka was here.  
Shinji couldn’t help but grin.  
He was suddenly a lot less worried about what was coming next.  
Whatever it was, they were still in this together. 

****

Shinji absently switched between looking at Asuka and staring out the window at the back of the vehicle. Again, as excited as he was about her presence, he didn’t want to cause any more unneeded commotion. And there was still the question of where they were. 

They left the base and drove down a lonely road through seemingly endless fields of grass.

In the corner of his vision he could see Captain Amagi’s sitting, legs and arms crossed, eyes closed, brows furrowed. She was deep in thought about something but every now and then he noticed her stealing a glance at him and Asuka. 

They drove for a little over half an hour when their convoy came to a brief stop. Shinji frowned. As far as he could see outside the back of the vehicle, they were still in the middle of nowhere. But then, the vehicle moved forward again and Shinji saw a checkpoint speed by before they entered a wide dark tunnel. 

The low glow of the yellow tunnel lights rhythmically illuminated the vehicle as they made their way through. 

Bright rays of sunshine appeared again as they cleared the tunnel, and Shinji bent forward trying to get a better look out the window. It wasn’t just a tunnel they had passed. It was tunnel through a huge wall of metal and machine. A fortification that rose hundreds of feet in the air and spanned across his entire view. He saw radio towers and massive gun turrets lined across the top of it.  
And all around him now were buildings. Small brick buildings, huge towering buildings of glass and everything in between. The roads were glistening. Power lines and road signs all stood neatly erected. 

Any sign of apocalypse was absent. 

And as they drove further into the city, Shinji almost stood up out of his seat when he saw something that truly showed he was not in his own world.  
People.  
Dozens of them. Hundreds of people bustling in the streets. Walking, talking, driving, biking, eating, shopping.  
He could probably see more people right now through that small window than he had in the past 10 years. Throughout the whole drive, he saw more people than maybe all his life. 

This was a city that was alive and well. 

“Oh my god,” he heard Asuka whisper under her breath. She was watching too now, “Shinji, where are we…” 

“Would this happen to be Tokyo-3?” Shinji asked breathlessly.  
The guards looked around at each other confused. Amagi frowned, “Tokyo? No, This is Hakone. It’s where the UN East Branch HQ is? Did our giant iconic wall not give it away?” 

Shinji didn’t respond. He looked back at Asuka whose eyes were glued to the window, wide in whimsical wonder.  
Shinji was reminded of the years after Instrumentality with her. How they had to scale mountains of desolation and sort through dusty reminders of civilization. How their voices would always echo through the ruins of broken infrastructure. How their minds would make ghosts to fill the hollow cities. How the emptiness of everything would drive them insane.  
Seeing so much life was almost overwhelming. He couldn’t help but feel his eyes getting misty now. 

“Man, you guys must really be from the sticks,” Amagi said.  
“...You could say that.”

****

The vehicle entered a tunnel again and they parked on a track that seemed to take them deep underground. They arrived at a garage that looked just like where they started and were ushered out of the vehicle through another complex web of hallways and stairs. 

Finally, they were welcomed into a bright white empty room. 

“Please wait here and we’ll be right back with you. Thank you again for your cooperation,” Amagi smiled and the door abruptly closed between them. 

Before Shinji could do anything, Asuka was already on him, tackling him in a hug.  
“Woah!” Shinji exclaimed, he was thrown off balance and felt himself crumple to the floor. Asuka shrieked in glee as she toppled over with him. 

“Asuka, please be careful,” Shinji started to say but Asuka climbed on top of him and shut him up with a kiss.  
Shinji widened his eyes in surprise but passionately accepted it. It was rare for Asuka to be so on the initiative and even more rare to do so at this level of skinship. But Shinji wasn’t complaining.  
She pulled away, her face was lit up in excitement.  
“Shinji, where the hell are we? I mean, did you see all that outside?” she said gleefully, “That was just incredible, maybe we don’t have anything to really worry about.”  
“I was already thinking that when I first saw you.”  
“Oh shut up,” Asuka giggled and bent down over for another kiss when they heard somebody clearing their throat, suddenly interrupting them. 

“Uh, sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but I just wanted to make sure you guys know you have an audience...”  
Asuka frowned and pulled back, looking over her shoulder to the source of the voice.  
Shinji tried to see who it was but Asuka was sitting on top of him, blocking his view. He could just make out someone tucked away in the corner of the room. 

“Excuse me? Do you mind?” Asuka huffed. 

“Hey, if you want to put on a show, go ahead,” the man offered, throwing his hand up innocently. He then gestured towards the wall behind them, “I won’t be the only one watching though, if you know what I mean.” 

They both turned behind them which was taken up by a giant glass panel. It was clearly one-way glass. 

Asuka sighed and rolled off from on top of Shinji, “lame,” she said. 

“Hey, I’m sure some of us would enjoy some steamy action,” he snickered. 

“Hmph, there’ll be a viewing fee.” 

A beat. 

“...Hey, what did you just say?” 

“Alright, alright, let’s not get out of hand here,” Shinji sighed. He hefted himself back up to his feet and walked over to the person at the corner of the room.  
“Hey, don’t mind her. Sorry about all that, our behavior was probably a bit inappropriate. We just didn’t realize you were here,” Shinji said, scratching the back of his head. He stuck out a hand, “It’s nice to meet you I’m--’ 

“Shin...ji” the man finished. The man scrambled up to his feet, his face looked like he’d seen a ghost. 

As he was approaching him, Shinji’s eye contact was dodgy from the slight embarrassment of getting caught in their flirty PDA, but his eyes now focused on the person in front of him for the first time.  
Shinji froze, his countenance shifting from shock, to confusion, to disbelief.  
It had been a long time, but there was no mistake.

A strange place this world was.  
He was seeing new things.  
Old things.  
And things that were a little bit of both. 

Shinji couldn’t help but laugh because he didn’t know how else to respond.  
“Toji?” 

“No way!?” Asuka exclaimed, bolting up, “as in Suzuhara?”

Toji looked over at her, “Fucking hell, do not tell me that’s Asuka. Christ, that is you. Oh god, you two actually ended up together?”

He was older now, just like they were. Although Toji was always athletic, he was still pretty scrappy looking back then. But now, he was actually bulked up and boasted a sturdy frame. His spiky hair and toothy grin seemed to have lived on.

Shinji could confidently say that Toji Suzuhara was one of the few people he sorely and truly missed. Those nights Shinji spent looking at the night sky from his balcony, he often wondered if his old friend was up there, part of the red ring of souls, or if he was back wandering somewhere on Earth. 

“I mean, it’s so good to see you again,” Shinji stammered, he put out a hand for a shake, “Obviously these conditions are less than ideal, but, man this is awesome.” 

Toji gave him a firm handshake and a wide smile, but when Shinji looked up at him, there was a sadness to it. “It’s good to see your face, bro, but I don’t think we are who we think we are.”  
Shinji cocked his head, “what do you mean? You are Toji aren’t you?”  
“I am, but not the Toji you knew,” he said, “Because you certainly aren’t the Shinji I knew, ain’t no way.”  
“What does that even mean?” Shinji asked.  
“Because I killed Shinji Ikari 10 years ago,” he said flatly. 

A silence filled the room as they continued to awkwardly shake hands. Shinji’s smile slowly faded. 

“Not on purpose though,” He added quickly, “It was courtesy of the 13th Angel? If that rings any bells…” 

“Oh. Yeah, that’ll do it…” Shinji said, slowly nodding, “Well... I almost killed you where I’m from, so no hard feelings I guess… Also not on purpose. Dummy plug system. If you know that that is.”  
Toji's eyes lit up, “Ah, I know of it. Yeah that’ll do it too.”

They continued silently shaking hands, both unsure of what to do next. It was certainly a weird feeling, but Shinji felt strangely accepting of what he just heard. Somehow, it wasn’t the weirdest thing he had to come to terms with today. In fact, after hearing that, everything was starting to click...

Toji spoke first, “I did a whole lot of stuff 10 years ago. Some crazy stuff. And I thought I got it all done and over with, but suddenly I’m here.”  
“So let me get this straight,” Asuka stepped in, turning to Toji, “you don’t know where we are either?”  
Toji nodded in affirmation, “I woke up in the middle of this base, like, a couple hours ago. Got caught and they threw me in here.”  
“Well, we’re in a pretty similar boat then,” Asuka said, “I popped up in an elevator and they got me. Shinji and I got a peek at the outside world, it’s definitely not where we’re from either.” 

“It’s all different worlds,” Shinji said, trying to piece everything together, “Just from what I’m hearing, you seem to be from a timeline where you kill me as the 13th Angel, right?” Shinji asked Toji.  
“Yeah, that’s right,” Toji nodded.  
“And me and Asuka branch off as a timeline where that doesn’t happen,” Shinji said looking at Asuka now.  
“Right,” she said.  
“But this place. This is severely different, but it's still just another branch,” Shinji mused, “I'm thinking that it branches way before anything we’ve experienced. The Captain mentioned Hakone. Do you guys know what Hakone is?”  
Asuka lived most of her life in Germany so she shrugged.  
“I’ve heard of it,” Toji shrugged too.  
“It’s the name of a city. The name of the city that preceded Tokyo-3 over the Geofront before Second Impact.” He looked up, “I don’t think there was any Second Impact here, I don’t think there are any Angels.” 

Shinji explained what he saw outside. He reiterated the gleaming civilization he saw with Asuka. He also explained how there were still Evangelion, but instead of fighting Angels they were replaced by these mysterious new beings, the Naga. 

“It’s all different,” Shinji said, “you,” he pointed to Toji  
“Us” he pointed to Asuka.  
“Here.” he pointed to the ground. “Three spaces.”  
“Three times,” Toji and Asuka said in unison  
“One bond,” Shinji finished. They stood around silently. It was unnaturally coordinated. As if something possessed them in that moment. Someone... 

“One bond,” Shinji repeated. He nodded his head, trying to keep his line of thought going “there is someone that connects all this. All of us. Someone who knows why we’re here. And If you two know that phrase, that means you’ve been seeing her too.”  
Shinji eyed both Asuka and Toji both who nodded, following where this was going. 

Every time she had popped up, Shinji did his best to ignore her. He didn’t want to see her. She was just bad news. But if he was going to get dragged into some strange parallel dimension anyways, he may as well hear her out. She was an important piece of this puzzle that needed to be addressed.

“We need to speak with Ayanami Rei.”

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Wanted to cover more for this chapter, but it was getting real long and I didn't have the heart to cut anything. Hope the pacing is okay...
> 
> Though I'll leave some of the more obvious or overarching stuff for the reader to decipher, I thought itd be fun to have a little trivia section at the end:  
> -From the previous chapter, I left the song that Asuka and Shinji last dance to unnamed, leaving it up to y'all to choose what they were listening to, but based on the episode title, I think it's obvious that I envisioned it as _Wind of Change_ by the German band _Scorpions_  
>  \- Lots of parallels in this chapter but a sneaky one I like is a hybrid. When Shokaku first saves Shinji with the Eva, I wanted to invoke both the scene of Misato swooping in and protecting Shinji with her car and the scene Unit 01 moving on its own to shield Shinji in Episode 1 (I like to believe the two scenes were already tied together within the show itself too)  
> -Eva trivia: most, if not all, the main cast are named after Japanese WW2 ships, including Katsuragi which was an Unryu-class Aircraft Carrier. Amagi is the name of a sister Aircraft Carrier of the same class to the Katsuragi.  
> 


	3. Trumpet Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three former pilots finally get some answers, but its not anything they wanted to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> This chapter in particular requires a bit more knowledge of NGE Lore than the show itself provides.  
> If you need a refresher while going through this chapter, I'd recommend reading up on "Seed of Life" on EvaWiki.

# Episode 3

Behind the one way glass, Captain Amagi and a handful of stationed guards watched the three mysterious strangers talk in a dark room, the only source of light coming from the glowing monitors. Amagi folded her arms and she bent over, squinting at one of the monitors that was transcribing their conversation in real time. She could hear them clearly through an audio feed coming through a headset she had on, but she wanted to read it to make sure she was getting everything right.  
Her eyes rapidly flickered through the scrolling text. She cross referenced it with the things she had heard them say before. Connecting the dots. Putting the pieces together.  
Tokyo-3  
Angels  
Second Impact  
Ayanami

Just as she thought.

None of it made any damn sense. 

“What the hell are these people talking about?” she gasped in exasperation.  
“I think these guys are just nutjobs,” one of the guards said sipping his coffee. 

#### Under the Wings of Mother Hen

“We need to speak with Ayanami Rei,” Shinji said. 

The two stared at him for a few moments. 

“What, you mean like right now?” Toji asked. 

“I mean, now is probably the best time,” Shinji shrugged, “Like I said, we’re in an underground base underneath where Tokyo-3 would be. My money is we’re in the Geofront and if we are going to communicate with her, this may be our only chance to get this close. Maybe it’ll help with connection or something, I dunno.” 

“Okay, fair, but how? What are we going to do, chant her name 3 times in that one way mirror over there?” Toji stuck his thumb over to the glass panel. 

“Hey, no need to be so sarcastic, Suzuhara,” Asuka said, “She’s been bothering us this much already, we could probably just sit in a circle or something and think about her and she’ll waltz in.” 

“Oh yeah, a seance sounds like a much better idea than the mirror one.” 

They had all been pretty equal in height 10 years ago, but Toji was easily the tallest of the three now, beating Shinji by a couple inches and Asuka by a good head or two. His now stocky build only accentuated their new size difference.  
But Asuka stepped up to Toji without hesitation, the same as she had when they bickered all those years ago. She had her arms crossed, brushing her thumb against her nose, looking up at him with that unamused expression.  
Before Asuka could get a snarky retort out, Shinji stepped up in front of her, between the two. He gently put his hands on her shoulders, giving them a good rub.  
“Now, now. No need to get upset, Asuka,” Shinji sang, backing her up away from their old acquaintance that could probably bench press the both of them.  
“Remember, this isn’t the Toji we knew, we can’t trust him quite yet,” Shinji whispered under his breath. They didn’t know what he’s been through or what he’s had to do.  
“Who said I trusted him,” Asuka growled, but he felt her shoulders relax in resignation.  
Shinji sighed.

“But listen, we do need to try something,” Shinji said, turning to Toji, “And sorry to sound biased, but Asuka’s right. Ayanami has been the one coming to us. So the best thing we can really do is sit and wait.” 

Shinji waited for his reaction, seeing if he would blow up or argue. But Toji simply rolled his eyes, “I guess I don’t really have a better idea. You know, I liked it when you were on my side.”  
Asuka wrapped her arms around Shinji and stuck her tongue out at him. 

*** 

Amagi and the guards with her watched as the three people sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and closed their eyes. And then just sat there. 

“What is this?” 

One the guards scratched the back of his head, “so should we go interrogate them now? I don’t think we’re getting anything particularly useful out of this...” 

Amagi raised a finger, “give them a second.”  
The guard simply shrugged and went back to sipping his coffee. He was paid by the hour.  
Amagi had seen her fair share of people in these interrogation rooms. And a fair share of them legitimately had a screw or two loose . But the way these people spoke didn’t feel like pure nonsense. Even though what they were saying seemed incomprehensible, they were collected and present. There was an understanding between them. Like they knew something she just didn’t. Her intuition was telling her to let this play out a little more. 

So they watched. 

And watched. 

And watched.

The drone of the computers. Men sipping their coffees. Air flowing through the ventilation above them. Amagi kept her eyes on them like a hawk the entire time, making sure she didn’t miss a single moment. 

Suddenly, an alert ping shattered the still air. Amagi head snapped over to one of the monitors in the corner flashing an alert message. One of the guards swung his swivel chair over to it, and Amagi was right by him, looking over his shoulder  
“What is it?”  
The guard at the monitor knitted his eyebrow, “we’re getting an energy spike reading from... the Terminal Dogma?” 

There it was. 

“How high?”  
“Nothing critical, it’s up 5% past normal range and holding steady,” he turned to her, “you really think it’s them?” 

But Amagi didn’t answer. Her eyes were back on the three people in the interrogation room. She felt the hair on her neck stand up as a chill went down her spine. All three of them opened their eyes and looked up in front of them simultaneously. Perfect unison, not a word spoken between them. 

Ikari Shinji opened his eyes.  
Asuka Langley Soryu opened her eyes  
Suzuhara Toji opened his eyes

Ayanami Rei opened her eyes. 

***

“Ayanami,” Toji said breathlessly, staring at the girl now in front of them. 

“Would you look at that,” Asuka said in disbelief.

The three of them carefully got up to their feet, as if any disturbance in the air would carry her away. 

She was really there.  
Ayanami Rei was standing in front of them. But they could tell she wasn't really. She had a ghostly aura about her. Her skin emitted a faint glow, her feet didn't seem to be touching the ground.  
As for her looks though, she seemed the same as he remembered her back then. Pale complexion, fair blue hair, deep red eyes. She had on their old Middle School uniform. Her countenance in that cold neutral gaze. 

“Are you Ayanami Rei?” Shinji asked. He said it in a whisper. 

_I am not Ayanami Rei_

The girl in front of them didn’t open her mouth. She seemed to speak directly into their mind. But it didn’t feel intrusive or external. It was as if Shinji conjured the thought himself. 

_I am me. But this is the form of me that lives in you._

“You brought us here, why?” Asuka asked, getting straight to the point. 

_There exists the universe. There exists many of the universe that live in parallel. Each born after a decision. A branch in time. A branch in space._

__

__

_In the beginning, there was the first decision.  
Seeds of Life, sent to planets to give them life.  
In 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999…% of timelines. One Seed of Life lands here on this place you call Earth.  
A white moon. Adam. Angels. Them.  
The rightful heirs of this planet. _  
Images flashed through Shinji’s mind. Giant eyes. Inky black limbs. Skull shaped heads. Beings of light. 

_But there are some universes where this does not happen.  
Another Seed of Life lands.  
A black moon. Lilith. Lilim. Me. You.  
And in one in a trillion from that, the Lilim become the dominant species. _  
More images. Lush green jungles. Painted deserts. Bright, vibrant plains. He saw schools of fish gliding over rich reefs. A flock of birds soaring through rugged mountains. Crowds of people going about their daily lives in the city. 

_But this universe is almost completely unique.  
There are Three Seeds of Life.  
A red moon.  
Naga._  
Webbed, mucoid skin. Bulging eyes. Razor sharp teeth. 

_Three Seeds of Life on one planet. Something impossible yet inevitable in the face of infinitesimal chance._

__

__

_You are aware of the power of one Seed of Life..._  
More images continued to fire through Shinji’s mind. He saw 4 huge wings of light burst through the atmosphere of Earth. He saw an entire continent of ice wiped out. The annihilation of all life around it. A shift in the planet, twisting the climate. Heatwaves in December, cities being retaken by the ocean.  
Second Impact. 

_You know the power of two..._  
Shinji was once again confronted with the titanic face of Ayanami Rei. Her hands overshadowing the entire country of Japan, Her wings shrouding the entire world. She had in the palm of her hands all of the souls on Earth. Instrumentality.  
Third Impact. 

_The power of three is magnitudes above both combined.  
An energy so massive it exceeds space and time. It endangers not only this universe, but yours as well._  
Shinji saw the giant Angel from his apartment balcony. He saw the flood of LCL outside his window. He saw the blinding rays of light in his living room.  
He saw something trying to get in.  
Fourth Impact.

Instantly he understood that the visions he was having back in his world weren’t just hallucinations. Through Lilith’s eyes, he was seeing real events unfolding through the torn fabric of reality. Things from an alternate dimension bleeding into his own. 

“How do you know this all happens?” Toji asked. He must have been seeing similar images. 

_Because it already has.  
The one you know as Adam awakened and succeeded in taking the other two Seeds of Life in this universe triggering Fourth Impact. This universe as well as yours were doomed to die.  
But as time and space crumbled, and the barriers between universes disintegrated, I could feel myself in your worlds. In you. A bond. And my final act, my last will, was to bring you here using the chaos around me.  
To stop the cataclysm. _

__

__

_Children of Lilim, Children of Lilith, Children of Me.  
You I know. You I trust. You I am.  
Three of me in Three of you.  
Three spaces, three times, one bond.  
I ask of you once more… _

And that was it.  
Shinji blinked, and just like that, Ayanami Rei was gone.

Earlier, Shinji had guessed that this was a place without any Angels. It seems he was wrong.  
This was just a place without any Angels yet.

*** 

Before the three could discuss what they just heard, the door opened and Captain Amagi entered the room.  
“Alright, I think that’s enough alone time. Anyone want to tell me what just happened here?” Amagi said, clasping her hands together. 

The three exchanged strained glances. They were wondering that themselves. 

Shinji spoke first, trying to piece everything together as he spoke.  
“Captain Amagi was it?” Shinji asked, “Can I ask you what day it is today?”  
“Uhm, August 7th” Amagi said.  
Shinji made a gesture, as if prompting her to continue.  
“...2025?” 

“Oh man...” Toji said.  
Shinji nodded thoughtfully. The last moment he remembered in his dimension, dancing with Auska in his apartment, was on September 21st 2025. When Ayanami mentioned a different time, she didn’t just mean a different timeline. They had actually gone back in time too. 

“Why is that important?” Amagi asked. 

“This is going to sound crazy, but you need to hear us out,” Shinji said, “We come from the future of an alternate dimension...”  
Shinji said his words carefully, deliberately, keeping a close eye on Amagi to make sure she was following. 

Amagi gave him a disingenuous look, but she had to remember that they did somehow magically appear in highly guarded and restricted military areas and that they did appear to be communicating with the being in Terminal Dogma,  
“Okay, I’ll humor you. Future parallel dimension. Continue.” 

“We come with a message,” Shinji said, “In the near future, the world is going to end.”  
“Oh yeah?” Amagi said, “when?” 

“Around September 21st, maybe,” Shinji said. Based on what he heard, it sounded like Lilith managed to use the Impact itself to bring them here. So the last thing he remembered in his dimension must have been around when it happened. 

“How?” Amagi pressed. 

“Well, do you know what Angels are?” Asuka asked. 

“I’m guessing you’re not referring to Christian mythos, so no.” 

“Okay, so correct me if I’m wrong. Around this time in the year 2000, did you find something in Antarctica? You know, another Geofront perhaps? Another seed of life like the thing below us in Terminal Dogma?” Shinji asked.

Amagi nodded cautiously. This was supposed to be pretty classified, “yes.” 

“It should have had a lance inside it that was suppressing it. Did you happen to remove the lance?” 

Amagi slowly nodded, another wave of shock washing over her, “yes.” 

“When did you remove the lance?” 

“...15 years ago…” 

_oof_  
Asuka, Shinji, Toji all made very visible signs of distress, as if they took a physical blow. Asuka put her hands to her face, Toji threw his hands in the air. Shinji just sucked air through his teeth.

“Well, I guess that’s to be expected. August 7th is when the 1st Angel attacked in our timeline,” Asuka sighed.  
“You mean the 3rd Angel?” Toji asked.  
“What? Oh, shut up. That’s semantics, you know what I mean,” Asuka rolled her eyes.  
“And I’m pretty sure it was August 9th,” Toji said.  
“Hmmm, I don’t think so,” Asuka turned to Shinji, tugging on his sleeve,“It was the 7th, right, Shinji?”  
Shinji folded his arms and creased his eyebrows as he looked up in thought, “Uhhh, I thought it was in September not going to lie.”  
“What the hell? Shinji you were there!”  
Shinji threw his hands up defensively, “it was a long time ago and it is not exactly a memory I hold dear to me.”  
“Well it couldn’t have been September because September 11th is when we killed the 7th Angel. Remember we had to do all that synchro-drifting-one-mind shenanigans for a whole week?”  
Shinji nodded slowly, “...right.” 

“Okay, I remember that too. So let’s work back from there,” Toji suggested, “When did we all meet on Over the Rainbow?”  
“September 1st”  
“September 2nd.”  
“I don’t remember.” 

The three answers were said in perfect, dissonant unison. Amagi watched as another wave of dissent descended among the three supposed prophets.  
Through the chaos, Asuka began to beat on Shinji, “You don’t remember when we first met?”  
Shinji tried in vain to shield himself, “hey, no offense but…”  
“Don’t…”  
“But our first meeting...”  
“Don’t say it, Ikari...”  
“...”  
“...”  
“... wasn’t exactly a memory I hold dear to me either-”  
Asuka started hitting Shinji again.  
“See, this is why! you were so mean to me back then too,” he feigned a sob, protecting himself from the blows.  
“Stop flirting for a second and listen,” Toji interjected, “It had to be the 1st. I remember you guys did a week of training before fighting the angel. So that brings us to the 4th. And then me and Kensuke got at least two days worth of pictures, so that brings us to the 2nd. And then Soryu transferred to our school the next day after Over the Rainbow. Which brings us to the 1st.”  
“...what pictures?” Asuka frowned.  
“Oh shit… Did I say pictures? uhhh.” 

“Can we,” Amagi said, taking a sharp inhale through her nose, “please… focus.” 

Shinji straightened up, clearing his throat, “My apologies.”

“So these Angels. You’re saying they are the ones that will bring about the end of the world?” Amagi prompted, trying to get them back on track. 

“Right,” Shinji said, “they are similar to these Naga you fight, except they will be much more powerful. If we can’t stop them, they will trigger an event known as Fourth Impact that will be detrimental to not just here, but where we are from as well. That’s where we come in.”

“Fourth?” 

“It’s a long story.” 

“And you are trying to say that the first of these Angels will begin their attack today?” Amagi asked.

“Or... two days from now, I guess,” Shinji shrugged looking over at Toji. He flashed a thumbs up and an approving nod. 

But just as he did, the room was suddenly flushed in deep red lights and they heard the shrill jingle of Amagi’s communicator begin to ring. 

The four people all froze and exchanged glances. Toji still had his thumbs up. 

“Or, you know... today.” 

Amagi pulled out her communicator and furiously read through the messages that were flooding in. Without looking up, she began to briskly head to the exit, “ We’ll continue this later.” 

Shinji and Asuka began to follow her out the door.  
When Amagi realized they were right behind her, she turned around putting a hand up, “what do you think you guys are doing?” 

“We’re going to help you?” Asuka said, “that’s kind of why we’re here.” 

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Amagi said shaking her head, “I have no evidence yet that you people are even sane and even if you are, no offense, but you don’t seem very reliable. You will stay here and maybe if I find it necessary, I’ll be back for your assistance.” 

“If you never fought an Angel before, I think we could be very helpful,” Asuka said, “save some time and money. Maybe even lives?” 

Amagi turned around and began walking for the exit, ignoring their pleas. 

“Captain, do you know what an AT field is?” Shiji called. 

“We’ll continue this later,” She repeated sharply.

“Okay, one last thing,” Shinji said.

Amagi turned to look at him.

“An N2 mine will stop it for about an hour.” 

Amagi glared at him as the door closed between them.

#### Trumpet Call

“Hey, let us help you, you idiots!” Asuka yelled at the glass panel, waving her arms in the air. “Why would she not even hear us out. So stingy. Reminds me of Misato.”  
She walked back and crouched by Shinji who was sitting on the floor up against the wall in thought.  
“Maybe they can just beat it,” Asuka shrugged, “I mean they threw you in there when you were like, what, 14? And you hadn’t even piloted an Eva before.”  
“Kind of true but not actually. I got thrashed. Berserker had to kick in,” Shinji said, “besides, it might not be so simple. When I watched that pilot fight, he was very skilled, but I don’t think they know how to use AT fields.” 

“Really?” Asuka asked, “That does complicate it a bit.” 

Shinji nodded, “The Naga definitely do not utilize any kind of AT field or if they do, it’s very weak. Conventional weapons seemed to have a pretty good effect on them.”  
He recalled how just before the Eva stepped in and saved him earlier today, the tanks seemed to have been doing some damage to the Naga.  
“So that should put Eva at a huge advantage. But when I was in the entry plug, there didn’t seem to be any indication he was using one either. He resorted mostly to dodging attacks instead of blocking it.”

Asuka mused, “Well do you think they can even use it in the first place? What if these Evas are different than ours? What if they can’t?”  
“They should,” Shinji said confidently, “those are definitely Evas.”  
“So we still have a shot,” Asuka said. 

“You know, I’m amazed how into this you guys are,” Toji called over. He was sitting on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed.  
Shinji and Asuka looked at eachother. Then back to Toji.  
“What do you mean?” Asuka said.  
“Fighting Angels!” Toji remarked in frustration, “We already did all that shit back then, why the hell are we doing this again? How are they going to just throw us into this mess? It just ain’t fair.” 

“Didn’t you hear Wonder Girl? If we don’t, all hell breaks loose.”  
“I mean, that’s what they told us back then too and it still sucked didn’t it?” 

Shinji nodded understandingly, but he had already asked himself these questions. “Well, do you have someone waiting for you back in your time?” Shinji asked.  
“Uh, maybe.”  
“Is it Hikari,” Asuka asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“Maybe.” He answered a little too quickly. "I have my sister too."  
Shinji smiled, “Back then, I didn’t have a reason to fight. Yeah they told me I was ‘saving the world’ or whatever, but there was still a disconnect. But it’s different this time around. Now I do have something I’m really willing to fight for.  
“I already got into an Eva again, something I thought I would never have to or want to do again. So parallel worlds, fighting Angels, I’m all for it. If not for these people, then I do it for her.”  
Shinji smiled looking over at Asuka. Asuka responded by giving Shinji a slow meek slap across the face, beet red, “please don’t say embarrassing things.” 

“Your flirting is going to be the end of me, if the Angels don’t get me first.”  
Toji sighed, shaking his head. He looked over at Shinji, “You’ve really changed, you know?” 

Shinji gave a small chuckle, “you think so?” 

***

There wasn’t a clock in the room, so the three could do nothing but sit in the blood red light and wait for something to happen. 

And finally it did. 

The door opened, and Amagi once again stepped into the room. Shinji, Asuka, and Toji all got up to their feet expectantly.  
Based on her expression, it didn’t seem like good news. 

Amagi didn’t say anything. She just wagged her finger, gesturing them to come with her and silently trotted out the exit again.  
The three former pilots exchanged glances and followed. 

After a few minutes of rushed walking, Amagi swiped a keycard and they entered a boardroom filled to the brim with people. The air was drowned out in chatter and they struggled to squeeze their way through the room. 

Gruff military officers, decorated with scars and medals, muttered in low voices amongst each other.  
Technicians and scientists shuffled through paper togethers, trying to make sense of what they were reading. Runners scrambled around, passing along notes and reports

Only one person seemed to really acknowledge their entrance. He stood up out of his chair as they walked in.  
It was the pilot Shinji had met, Shokaku Shinji. 

“Captain! Are Hojo and Chitose, okay?” he asked. 

Amagi nodded, “hey relax. Yes, we extracted them a couple minutes ago. We’re going to bring them to the hospital, but they’re fine.” 

Shokaku nodded in relief. “What is going on? Is this the Naga?” He gave a curious glance at the three people she entered with, “who are these guys? Wait, I know you…” 

“You’ll see soon enough,” Amagi said.  
She turned to the three again, “take a seat over there,” she pointed at a couple of chairs lined up at the front corner of the room. The three shrugged and obeyed. 

“Alright everyone!” Amagi called. She grabbed the nearest stack of reports and slammed it against the boardroom table. The blunt sound of the impact reverberated through the room, commanding silence.  
“We don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll get you up to speed quickly,” Amagi said. An aide handed her a remote and she stood at the front of the room next to a wide screen which showed them a map and grid.

“At about 1540, Oshima Station picked up an unidentified target about 20 klicks South East from its position. At 1550 it was deemed hostile after destroying Oshima Station.”  
The screen switched to a picture of a humble radar station that had been stomped to the ground. Shinji could see shifting in the room as interest was piqued. 

“The target breached through the Sagami Bay minefield shortly after. It sustained two waves of torpedo bombings with no apparent damage. It made landfall at about 1600 where it engaged the 25th and 28th Armor Division and the 12th Artillery Division with air support. Again no effect on target.  
“Units 03 and 04 moved in to engage the target at 1612. At 1630, both pilots were forced to emergency eject and abandon the units. Target shortly cleared the NDZ after at 1637.”  
Another picture appeared on the screen of an Eva unit smashed through a building.  
This one got a bit more of a reaction. A wave of muttering fluttered around the room. People leaned forward in their seats now, eyebrows furrowed.

“At 1640, a state of emergency was officially declared in Hakone and citizens are currently being evacuated to designated shelters. At the same time, we detonated an N2 mine 2 kilometers south of the Niizaki River which seemed to have reduced the target to 82% vitality, but was incapable of fully incapacitating it.”  
Another picture flashed showing a blurry aerial picture of a thick pillar of smoke rising out of the now smoldering land. Shinji could make out the blurry silhouette of a towering humanoid creature. 

“It seems to be regenerating at a rapid rate. Estimated time for it to be moving again is about…,” for a brief moment, her eyes flashed directly at Shinji, “...1 hour. 1735. It is projected to reach Hakone at 1750. Current time is now 1657.” 

The murmuring had now cycled back into a stunned silence. They had just been told that all their trump cards were spent and they had less than an hour to come up with something. 

“Have we tried hitting it again while it is regenerating?” one of the generals asked.  
“Two waves of short range ballistic missile launches have been fired since the N2 mine detonation. Every single missile hit the target. No effect.” 

“Well, what does the MAGI suggest?”  
“All options appear inconclusive except … self destructing the base…” 

“Well Captain, I certainly hope that’s not what you’re proposing.”  
“No, of course not!” Amagi said. 

“So then do you have any idea of what to do? With the Commander out, you’re the next in line to deal with these kinds of operations,” a general growled.

“It’s complicated,” Amagi tried to explain, “this isn’t what we’re typically used to dealing with. This isn’t Naga, this is a new enemy. And that’s where these three come in.” She gestured toward the trio of strangers that had been sitting in the corner. 

Shinji almost reeled with so many eyes turning towards him. It felt even more nerve-wracking than running from the Naga. He scanned the room looking at all these people sizing him up. Judging him. His eyes eventually found the floor very interesting. 

“This might be hard to explain now, but I believe these people have knowledge that will help us defeat the current enemy.”  
She looked over at them and gestured with her head, egging them to introduce themselves. 

“I am Asuka Langley Soryu,” Asuka announced first. She stood up and took a bow, “I’ll be in your care.”  
“I am Toji Suzuhara,” he said, following suit, “Pleasure.”  
“Uhm, hello, I am Ikari…” Shinji awkwardly stood up.  
He felt the weight of dozens of gazes on his shoulders, in his head. His mind felt like static. His eyes frantically bounced around the room at all the people. So many people.  
But then he happened to lock eyes with Shokaku in the back corner of the room who was looking up at him intently. Curious about the person he saved and was now here in front of him again. 

Maybe it was a panicked impulse. Maybe it was the nerves of all the people. Maybe it was because the pilot’s name was also Shinji and he didn’t want to say he was Shinji too. Maybe being in a place like NERV and fighting angels made him think about him for the first time in years. Maybe he still had some repressed things to work out. There was a lot of maybes as to why he said what he said, but nothing could change that he actually said it.  
“I am Ikari Gendo,” Shinji said, “I’ll be in your care.” 

Toji looked over at Shinji with a face of complete bewilderment as he took his seat again.  
Asuka didn’t look much different.  
But the show went on. 

“You’re telling me these uh, young sports are somehow experts on this unknown enemy?” One of the generals said, “How is that so?” 

It was a fair point. Not only were they young, they didn’t exactly look the part either. Shinji was still in his ruffled up clothes from the Naga incident, dried up and stained with LCL. Toji was donning a simple dull tracksuit. And Asuka, with her red dress, looked like she was here for a Sunday drive. 

“Well let’s hear them out. What have you got for us?” Amagi said, turning the floor to them. She prayed in her mind that she was right about these people. She whispered “you said you could help?” 

All eyes were now back on the three. Shinji awkwardly cleared his throat and looked over at Asuka and Toji to see if they would take the reins. He was shocked to see they were already looking at him.  
“Me?” Shinji mouthed, gesturing to himself.  
“You were on a roll back in the interrogation room,” Toji shrugged, “seemed to have the best idea of everything happening.”  
He glanced over at all the people again.  
“Uhm, Asuka, why don’t you do the speaking?” Shinji said sheepishly, “This is… I can’t…”  
Luckily, Asuka was way ahead of him. She squeezed his hand in hers and gave him a reassuring nod. 

She shot up on her feet and took center stage. “Hello everyone. We are qualified and I can give you a long explanation of how, or I can just prove it to you. Considering how much time we have, I’m guessing you’ll want the latter option, no?”  
There were a couple scoffs in the room, but no one objected. 

“This new enemy you are fighting is called an Angel. Now I am under the impression you have been fighting things called Naga for some time. Angels are different. Although they don’t seem to come in as high of numbers, they are much more powerful. Angels are capable of generating something called an AT field, a kind of shield that will render conventional weapons to minimal viability as you may have seen. I’m wondering if any tech guys picked up data on that?”  
All the eyes shifted to the row of military technicians in the back. They all nodded slowly. 

“Okay, so what can we do about it?” one of the generals asked. 

“Glad you asked. Luckily there is a countermeasure. The only thing capable of fighting Angels...,” Asuka said, turning to look at Shokaku, “...are Evas.” 

Shokaku frowned as he realized she was directing the attention at him. But before he could say anything, the war room broke out into a frenzy of shouting.  
“I thought our new expert would give us a more creative solution. You know, one we haven’t already tried.”  
“Let her finish, she might be onto something.”  
“Why are we wasting time listening to this again?”  
“Captain, where did these people even come from anyways? Can we even trust them? ” 

One general got to his feet and shouted above the others “Has this girl been paying attention? Evas? We already had two Evas fight it, and they couldn’t do anything either.” 

Asuka grabbed the same stack of reports Amagi had and once again slammed it against the side of the table, but harder. It sounded like a gunshot. The room was swallowed up in silence. “Neat trick. Sir, if you feel so inclined, you can go leave this room right now and start shooting missiles at that thing while we finish talking here. You’ll contribute roughly the same amount as you are now, I promise you.”  
The general next to him cleared his throat, stifling a laugh, as he took his seat again, silently fuming. 

“It’s a fair question though, what can the Evas do that gives them more of a chance?” Amagi asked. 

“Because Evas are also capable of projecting an AT field,” Asuka said, “These Angels come from that thing you dug up in Antarctica,” Asuka let a mischievous smile creep on her lips, “And I happen to know that’s where Evas come from too,” she sang. 

The mood seemed to change after Asuka said that. A tension in the air that Shinji could feel tighten around his neck. Any doubt that these generals had with Asuka seemed to vaporize. She certainly was knowledgeable on this subject matter. And not a single person in the room seemed to like it. If looks could kill, Asuka would have died to a thousand daggers. But Asuka stood firm, meeting them all in the eye.  
Shinji nervously scanned her body, making sure there wasn’t actually a red dot trained on her or something. 

“Jesus, remember how I said you’ve changed Shinji?” Toji whispered, leaning over to him. Shinji nodded.  
“Well, _she_ hasn’t.”  
Shinji chuckled, “In our time, she’s working with the provisional government that is leading the restoration of Kyoto,” he said, a bit of smug pride leaking into his voice.  
“Makes sense. So she’s used to yelling at people in suits.” 

“If our pilot here can manage to form an AT field, he can fight the Angel on equal footing,” Asuka said, “And that’s our only chance.”  
Everyone simply nodded in agreement. They had no other plan anyways and they were running out of time. Questioning would have to come later.

“How many units do you have?” Asuka asked.

“He’s all we have left,” Amagi said, referring to Shokaku.  
“He’s all we need,” Asuka said, “Pilot, do you think you are up for this?”

Shokaku nodded confidently, “I’m your man.” 

“Then let’s lift off as soon as we can.” 

***

A door opened and Shinji, Asuka, and Toji followed Amagi into the huge command center. 

Shinji felt like he should have been surprised to see that it looked the exact same as the NERV Command Center. Shinji had actually only been in the Command Center itself a small amount of times, but he instantly recognized the multi-tiered room.  
Earlier, he had heard them mention the MAGI and sure enough, he could even see the three supercomputers systems posted in the level below him.  
Shinji looked up at the top level, half expecting to see his father’s looming figure there. But the Commander seat was empty. 

They were on the same floor where Hyuga, Aoba, Ibuki would have been posted, but of course, three different faces were in their spots.  
They had set up a cheap folding table with 3 plastic chairs for Asuka, Toji, and Shinji near the back of the level. Amagi stood directly in front of them. 

“Status report,” Amagi shouted.  
“Time is 1740,” one of the techs said, “Target is on the move again along a projected path to Hakone. ETA 13 minutes.” 

“And Unit 01?”  
“Deploying now.” 

***

They deployed him right outside the huge walls of Hakone, alone.  
The giant Eva rested on a knee, pallet rifle in hand.  
A sole defender waiting for the sole invader.  
The sun was already setting. Shokaku watched the sky melt from a blue, to a hazy lavender, against the soft yellow of the sun. 

“Angel’s ETA is in 10 minutes.” 

Shokaku took a deep breath. They had 3 Evas in the Eastern Branch that deployed in rotations of 2, changing every week. He had just finished his rotation earlier today and was ready for a week off when this all happened. Now he was back in Eva, alone for the first time in years. 

“Okay, Shokaku, nice to meet you,” Asuka’s voice buzzed in from the comms.  
"Pleasure is all mine, Ms. Soryu."  
“The Angel will have a giant red core that you’ll see on its chest. That’s your target. it’s its life source. Break that, you beat the Angel.”  
“Simple enough,” Shokaku said, “and what about this AT field?”  
“This is going to be the hard part,” the AT field isn’t a function programmed into the Eva. It comes from you. You need to connect with the Eva and project it from inside yourself.” 

“We have visual on target. 1000 meters out.” 

Shokaku wished he had time to practice or something, but it seems the moment was here.

*****  
“Putting it up on the main screen now.” 

The towering figure of the Angel appeared flickered on the screen.  
“What a funny looking guy,” he heard one of the techs say. 

Broad shoulders, long arms, jagged ribs, dark empty eyes.  
There was no doubt.  
This was the Third Angel  
Sachiel. 

Shinji thought he’d have a more visceral reaction seeing the Angel so close again, but he found himself strangely calm.  
He looked to his right to see Asuka licking her lips, her face laser focused.  
He looked to his left to see Toji. Even though he knew he couldn’t trust him quite yet, he really didn’t seem like a bad guy so far. It felt good having his company again. 

They could do this. 

“Are you ready, Shokaku?” Shinji asked. 

Shokaku nodded and gripped his controls sticks, “Let’s fight some Angels.” 

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone.  
> This was rough chapter to write lol. Its important since it lays the groundwork of this entire series but trying to integrate established and new concepts proved difficult. Particularly deciding what concepts needed explaining or reiteration and which should be expected for the reader to know. A tricky thing Eva lore is, even as a long time fan, it still makes my head spin. What can you do, that's eva for you. I hope it turned out okay  
> Starting next chapter, things should pick up real quick so hope you guys stick around! 
> 
> Trivia:  
> -Eva Trivia: I actually did a lot of research into this and there is almost no established dates on any events in Evangelion. I made up a lot of them.  
> -Toji mentions pictures near the end of their "dates" argument. In the beginning of Episode 9, Kensuke and Toji are seen selling off photos of Asuka. I always thought this was a bit weird and not enough people mention it lol  
> -Anyone catch Amagi's reference to a certain infamous line from the dub? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ya-xLnQxs8  
> -Dont worry to Rei fans, this won't be her last appearance *wink*


	4. A Familiar Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the beginning; Shinji, Asuka, and Toji deal with their first enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.

# Episode 4

“Okay Shokaku,” Asuka’s voice buzzed, “the Angel will have a giant red core that you’ll see on its chest. That’s your target. It’s its life source. Break that, you beat the Angel.”  
“Simple enough,” Shokaku said, “and what about this AT field?”  
“This is going to be the hard part. The AT field isn’t a function programmed into the Eva. It comes from you. You need to really connect with the Eva and project it from inside yourself.”

Shokaku nodded. At face value, it didn’t seem like very helpful or guided advice. But he had been a pilot for 5 years and he knew there was more to this machine that he piloted than met the eye. There was a connection he had always felt with it. A strangely ethereal one.  
A connection.  
Synchronization.  
Becoming one.  
He often dismissed these feelings in the past, but maybe he wasn’t just imagining things. 

“We have visual on target. 500 meters out.” 

Shokaku wished he had time to practice or something, but it seems the moment was here.

#### First Contact

Shokaku took a second to get his first good look at his new enemy. 

The Naga always just seemed like wild animals to him. Really big and wildly dangerous ones, but animals nonetheless. 

The Angel was odd. It wasn’t particularly any bigger than the Naga that he fought and it wasn’t particularly horrifying or grotesque. In fact, it was probably less disturbing to look at as a whole.  
However, it had an uncanny aura around it. Like something seemed off. Maybe because of its more humanoid appearance. Or its hollow eyes that he struggled to determine if it exuberated any intelligence or not. It was so alien, so foreign, he couldn’t help but feel his skin crawl as it slowly trudged in his direction. 

Shokaku shook his head, trying to maintain his focus.  
None of that mattered.  
This was the enemy.  
An enemy that wanted to harm people.  
And he was here to stop it. 

“Let’s test the waters a bit shall we.”  
His eyes were immediately drawn to the red core, front and center on its chest, just like the woman had described. He kept his focus there. Trying to ground himself. Eyes on the prize.  
He lined up his pallet rifle and squeezed the trigger. The huge gun blared as he emptied the clip. He could see the glowing tracer bullets fly right at it, but none seemed to make contact. 

“There, that’s the power of the AT field. You can’t hurt it without neutralizing its AT field with your own,” Asuka said, “Feel it within yourself and let it just flow out of you.” 

Shokaku clenched his jaw and tried to mentally project a shield in front of him. He strained his mind, envisioning breaking through the Angel’s. 

“Stay relaxed,” Asuka said, “don’t tense up too much.” 

Shokaku heard his rifle click as he expended the last round in the magazine. The Angel was still moving forward as if nothing had happened. 

Shokaku clicked his tongue and retreated a few paces back while reloading. 

***

Amagi watched the screen, biting on her thumb, “is this really going to work…?” she muttered. 

Asuka nudged Shinji and whispered to him, “hey, do you have any advice? When we piloted it just kind of came naturally, don’t you think?” 

Shinji silently watched as Shokaku tried shooting at the Angel once more, but again to no effect. At this rate, he would get cornered against the wall with no place to go. Shinji’s mind raced for a good answer. No, a better answer. 

Toji shifted positions in his chair, leaning forward, ready to try. 

***  
“I heard you’re a pretty skilled combatant.” a voice crackled through his comms. It was a man this time.

“You could say that,” Shokaku said, “This isn’t my first rodeo.” 

“You think you can hold your own at melee range? Projecting an AT field at a distance could be the issue here. It might be easier up close.” 

Shokaku nodded. He took a deep breath as he dropped his pallet gun to the side and withdrew his Prog knife, “worth a shot. Or should I say, taking a stab at.” 

He nimbly feinted to one side and charged the angel. The Angel blankly watched as he approached and stared as Shokaku thrust the knife at its chest.  
Shokaku felt his knife jam into something, a force recoiling back up the arm of the Eva. But when he looked down he saw that once again, his attack was stopped short. His Prog knife grating against what looked like thin air.  
“Come on, come on,” he muttered, trying to push forward.

“Energy reading detected.” the automatic voice in his Eva said.  
“Shokaku watch out!” Amagi’s voice rang. 

Shokaku looked up and saw the Angel was staring right at him, its eyes beginning to glow. His reflexes kicked in and he quickly dove out of the way as a beam of energy fired through the air where he was just standing. 

The blast arced behind him and erupted, the ground shaking from the explosion. 

“It shoots lasers?” Shokaku couldn’t help but yell out in surprise. Suddenly, he looked around as his entry plug was flushed in red lights.  
“Damn, did I get hit?” Shokaku asked. He hadn’t felt anything. He scanned around the indicators in front of him trying to find the problem. 

“No, it nicked your umbilical cord!” Amagi shouted. 

Shokaku’s eyes landed on the timer now counting down.  
Great, well this was going well. 

***

“How much time does the pilot have with only its internal battery?” Asuka asked.  
“Just 15 minutes,” Amagi said, “that’s the limit of our technology.”  
Toji shrugged, “better than ours.”  
Shinji’s eyebrows furrowed.  
“Good going, Suzuhara,” Asuka said, “close range, huh.”  
“How the hell is that my fault? Nothing’s working, god dammit.”  
Asuka had no response to that. As committed as they were to fighting Angels again, without their own Evas, there was only so much they could do. The rest was really up to the pilot. 

***

Shokaku disengaged from the Angel, jumping back to get some distance.  
The Angel gave him a fleeting glance before turning back and heading towards the wall again.  
It fired another blast, this time straight at the huge metal wall. Another blooming explosion put a huge crater in it. It stood there and began firing blast after blast at the wall. 

***  
“Sector 02 of the wall receiving significant damage. Integrity down to 74%.”

Amagi turned to address her command room, “Batteries A-01 through A-09, open fire on target.”  
The huge mechanized guns lined up against the top of the walls turned towards the invader and began blasting fiery salvos at the invader, albeit in vain. 

“Shokaku, pull back to the far West Entrance. Let’s regroup inside the city. The wall can buy us some time while you get a new umbilical cord.”  
“No, I can’t,” Shokaku said, “If it gets into the city, who knows what could happen!” Shokaku yelled, “I’m reengaging, I got this.”  
“Shokaku, don’t be stupid, if you run out of power out there, it’s game over!” Amagi yelled.  
“But…”  
“That’s an order, Shokaku!”  
The pilot gritted his teeth, “alri-”

“Shokaku,” Shinji cut in. 

Amagi looked over at the sudden interruption. Shinji was now on his feet.  
“Shokaku,” Shinji said, “why do you pilot Eva?” 

There was silence across the channel.

“I don’t know if we have time for this right now-”  
“You mentioned that you were in commercials or something. Is it for that? Is it for the money?”  
“No! Of course not.”  
“Then fame? You like the attention. You seemed bothered that I didn’t know your name when we met.”  
“No! That wasn’t it. I mean, it’s just weird when people have no clue who I am, but it’s not like it annoyed me or anything.”  
“Okay, so what are you in that pilot seat for?”  
“...To help people.”  
“Help people?”  
“Yes! Help people. Save them. Protect them. You know, be a hero.”

“Right, like with me? When we first met.” 

“Yeah, I mean, we’re protectors.That’s supposed to be our duty.” 

“Shokaku, listen to me closely. That Angel has the capacity for unbelievable destruction. You’re seeing what it's capable of. By the time you retreat and reengage, half the city is going to be ash.” 

“So what are you saying?” 

“Don’t let it get into the city.” 

“What the hell are you trying to make him do?” Amagi spat. She looked at the communicator and tried to shout over Shinji, “Shokaku, pull back, you have an order!” 

Shokaku didn’t say anything. 

“You could die!” Amagi pleaded. 

“You put your life on the line everyday,” Shinji countered, “you did it for me today when you disengaged your entry plug to let me in when there was a Naga right behind you. Listen, I’m here helping you guys fight these things because I want to help everyone too. Don’t let them down.” 

“Sector 2 has been breached,” one of the technicians shouted. Everyone turned to see that the Angel fired one final blast that now tore a hole in the giant wall of the city. 

The Angel began to move again. 

Shokaku watched as the Angel lazily started forward, straight toward the city. The city he had protected for 5 years. The thousands of people he had protected for 5 years. 

***  
_One more push._  
“Shokaku, you mustn't run away.” 

***

Shokaku took a deep breath and looked at his power supply timer. He’s completed missions with less time on the clock. He’s killed dozens of Naga. This person was counting on him. Everyone was.  
This person believed in him. 

Shokaku pushed forward on his control sticks and his Eva sprinted forward back into the fray. 

“What the fuck!” Amagi tried to interject, “Shinji, no!” 

The Angel turned and faced him once again.  
With a shout, Shokaku threw all the weight of the Eva against it, but his mech came to a cold stop, slamming into the invisible barrier of the AT field. 

“Come on you son of a bitch, let me through!” he yelled. He brought the knife down again aiming for its head but again it was deflected. He brought his knee up trying to hit two places at once. He kicked and stabbed, desperately trying to land a blow. 

Shokaku kept a close watch on its eyes, anticipating another energy beam, but he was caught off guard when the Angel swiftly raised one of its hands. From its wrist, a beam of light projected out.  
It was fast. He tried shifting right to dodge, but he watched the beam spear into his shoulder. It took a second, but then the pain set in. A sharp burning pain that completely enveloped his shoulder. He felt his entire arm tense up. 

“Damage to the left shoulder. It’s been completely pierced.” 

Shokaku stumbled backwards trying to get away when he saw its eyes begin to glow again.  
“Energy spike detected!”  
He couldn’t dodge this time, he didn’t have a footing, and his arm was shot. His vision was filled with a bright light. 

“No!” Amagi yelled. 

The Angel fired another energy blast that hit the Eva point blank, sending it flying through the air.  
The giant mech crashed into the ground with huge force, tumbling a good distance, spraying dirt in every direction. It came to a stop and lay there, smoldering. 

Everything burned. Everything hurt. It was blinding.  
Shokaku groaned. Even thinking about moving was sending fiery pains coursing through his entire body.

He heard the man’s voice. Ikari.  
_“You put your life on the line everyday!”_

Shokaku was inclined to believe that as well, but he realized he was never actually in a position where he felt he was risking his life. Even against the Naga, as precarious as a job it was. He had training. He had experience. He had backup. He was safe inside the Eva. 

But this was different. 

He was alone.  
With a new enemy. 

Shokaku managed to open his eyes and looked up to see the Angel already standing atop of him, its eyes glowing again, ready to hit him with a killing blow.  
_Killing blow._  
He was really about to die.  
And Shokaku Shinji realized that even more than saving people. He was absolutely terrified of dying. 

***  
“Eject the plug!” Amagi cried.  
“We can’t! Not in the position it’s in!” one of the techs yelled. The Eva was lying on its back. If they ejected the plug, it wouldn’t do anything but smother into the ground. 

***  
He didn’t want to die here. He had family and friends that were waiting for him. He had things he wanted to do.  
He wanted to live. He wanted to live. He needed to save himself. 

He didn't want to die. 

Shokaku put his arms out and suddenly everything felt lighter. A fog lifted from his brain. His vision felt sharper and the colors around him became more vibrant. 

Shokaku thought he felt someone in the entry plug with him. 

The Angel fired a blast that connected with a ringing AT field. The following explosion blew backwards, returned to sender. The Angel staggered back, falling to the ground. 

There was a momentary pause as everyone processed what just happened. Engineers that were prepared to call a time of death watched as the Eva vitals held steady. All eyes were on the screen as the smoke cleared. 

“That’s it!” Shinji cried, “now’s your chance!” 

But Shokaku didn’t even hear him. He had already launched himself from the ground charging at the Angel again. Pure adrenaline was pumping through his body, washing out the pain.  
The Angel had gotten back to its feet and threw forward one of its arm, trying to grab his head. Shokaku watched the open palm swallow his vision and felt that visceral feeling of fear overtake him once more.  
_Don’t touch me!_  
He put out his hands again and another AT field spliced through the air. Purple blood splashed out as the AT field severed the Angel’s arm. The giant limb crashed to the floor.  
Shokaku let out a feral scream and tackled into the angel full force. The two titans smashed into the ground. Shokaku raised his right fist and brought it down on the red core with vicious animosity.  
He continued pounding at it watching as splintering cracks began to form from each time he brought down his fist. The Angel seemed to have stopped moving, but Shokaku didn’t let up.  
“That’s it!” Toji yelled, on his feet too now, “that’s it, that’s it!” 

“Not yet,” Shinji shouted, “You keep that AT field up! You hear me!” 

“Wait, what is this!” Shokaku cried.  
The Angel suddenly burst forward with a new surge of energy, its feet hooked around the Evas body and its last remaining arm stretched and pulled itself onto the Eva. The entire Angels body seemed to morph around the Eva, covering it. 

“Keep that AT field up!”

A brilliant flash of light.  
The Angel self-destructed and a huge explosion speared into the sky. The blast towered over even the wall, bearing the shape of a crucifix. It would have been visible to anyone in the city. Shinji could swear he felt the ground rock beneath him from the Command Center.

“Receiving blast shockwave …” The screens all turned to static as the force of the explosion temporarily knocked out the nearby cameras.

Amagi yelled, “what’s his status? do we have a reading?” 

“Yes, we’re receiving an energy reading at the epicenter of the blast. Visuals will be back up in a few seconds.” 

The entire Command Center held their breath. 

“Visual link reestablished. Putting it up on the main screen now.”  
A picture flashed up in the control room. 

An intact Eva lay in a crater of earth and ash. 

“...Shokaku?” Amagi asked.

Another screen flashed open showing the inside of the entry plug. Shokaku lay there with his head bowed over, unmoving.  
From the corner of the screen, one of his hands moved.  
Giving a shaky thumbs up. 

The Command Center erupted into cheers. 

Amagi felt like she was going to faint, “Oh thank God. Thank you, God. Shokaku, We’ll be coming to extract you soon, hang tight.” 

Shokaku looked up at them and nodded, flashing a weak smile. 

Then the power in his Eva died, cutting off the comms and enveloping him in darkness. Shokaku leaned back, slumping down in his pilot seat, taking a long shaky breath. 

Shinji sunk back into the chair. He laced his hands and rested his forehead on them, using his thumbs to massage his temples. He closed his eyes trying to keep himself in the moment. He breathed a sigh of relief  
He felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him from behind.  
“Shinji…” Asuka whispered, a hint of concern.  
“I know, I know…” Shinji said. 

Why was Shokaku struggling with the AT field when it had come so naturally to them? It was simple. Shokaku wasn’t fully realizing his situation. The brief time he spent with Shokaku in the Eva, it was apparent that, even though he piloted for longer than they had, he never came close to what Shinji or Asuka or probably Toji had to do.  
And to use Eva to its maximum potential, it needed distress. It needed anxiety. Raw emotion. Things that would change a person.  
Maybe there was a better way.

But this was the only way he knew. 

“Credit where it’s due, but man, I hope that name you chose is just for show,” Toji said without looking at him. 

Four people sat in silence in the room as the command room continued to celebrate and applaud around them.  
Toji, Shinji, and Asuka somberly took in the fact that they were once again here fighting Angels.  
And Amagi was glaring discreetly at them, with a face of stone. 

#### A Familiar Feeling

 _August 8th, 2025_  
_0922_

Shokaku Shinji woke up to a bright white ceiling.  
He felt groggy and sluggish.  
He turned to his right to see a girl his age sitting by his bed, diligently flipping through a book. She brushed a few locks of her long black hair behind her ear. 

“Chitose?” Shokaku asked. 

The pilot of Unit 04 gasped in surprise, snapping her book close. She looked down in dismay after she realized she hadn’t bookmarked where she was.  
She looked over to Shokaku, “you’re awake!” 

“For now,” he groaned, “these pillows are real soft.”  
Chitose rolled her eyes and set her book aside, “Don’t go to the light.”  
“Where are we?” Shokaku asked.  
“East Branch Medical Center.”  
“Are you alright?” Shokaku asked, “I heard you got admitted too after deploying...”  
“Hey, I’m not the one still in the hospital bed.”  
Shokaku smiled, “that’s good. How long have I been here?”  
She shrugged, “just for the night. They said you just needed some rest.”  
“How long have you been here?”  
“Like a minute, maybe.”  
“Is that why you lost your place in your book. And the lamp is on?” The sun was well up in the sky now, giving the room a pleasant glow through the window blinds. The lamp light from the hospital stand she was sitting by seemed completely redundant.  
Chitose grabbed one of the pillows and tossed it over his face, “Changed my mind. Go to the light.” She laughed, as Shokaku went limp, pretending to flatline. He pulled the pillow from his face, giggling as well.  
“But for real, get some rest, I’ll go grab a nurse,” Chitose stood up and trotted out the room. Just as she was about to leave, he called out to her.  
“Hey!”  
Chitose turned back.  
“I got em, right?” 

Chitose gave him a smile, “you got em.” 

She disappeared out the door.  
Shokaku breathed a sigh of relief and fell back into his pillows. He had done it. 

A few moments later, the doors opened again, but instead of a nurse or doctor, he saw Captain Amagi walk into the room. 

“You see that, Captain?” Shokaku grinned, “Add it to the record. 226 Naga and 1 Angel.”  
But Shokaku felt his smile evaporate when he saw Amagi’ expression as she stepped up to his bed.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked.  
“What’s wrong?” Amagi repeated in disbelief, “What’s wrong is that yesterday, you almost got yourself killed. What you did was dangerous. No, it was stupid,” she growled.  
“Hey, I did it, didn’t I?” Shokaku huffed.  
“You got lucky. You could have seriously gotten hurt! I mean, how could you just listen to that guy?”  
“You mean Mr. Ikari?” Shokaku felt frustration begin to boil inside him, “I listened to _that guy_ because he actually seemed to believe in me. He actually seemed to care about what I’m trying to do. With you it’s just: ‘why didn’t you follow protocol?’ ‘I can’t believe nor do I care that you just saved a human life’. You were like that even after I saved Mr. Ikari yesterday and, shocker, you’re doing it right now after I saved who knows how many lives!” 

“By risking your own life like that? That was a big gamble Shokaku, that’s not the way to do it.” 

“I can’t believe I’m getting a lecture about this right now,” Shokaku said in exasperation, “I did a good thing and you’re not letting me have this? This is about the Eva isn’t it? What, is your little robot more precious than protecting people?” 

“Listen, I’m here to protect people too. One of those people just happens to be you. I had 43 casualties yesterday, alright. 17 KIA. And that’s 17 too high for me. I don’t want you being added to that number because of some macho heroism act got it? So get off your damn high horse. This isn’t a game.” she said, her words dripping with venom.  
“You don’t think I know that!” Shokaku shouted with the energy he could afford, “I’m the one who almost fucking died.”  
His words echoed around the sterile hospital room. Amagi didn’t break her eye contact, “That’s what I’m worried about.”  
“Yeah, thanks,” Shokaku said, cooling down, not meeting her eye, “I just woke up, can we talk about this later or something.”  
He was done with this conversation.  
Amagi gritted her teeth and she bitterly exited the room. 

***

Three sharp knocks echoed throughout the room.

Ikari Shinji woke up to a dull gray ceiling of concrete. 

He swung out of the springy bed and got a good look at his cramped room they had kept him in overnight. And by that, he meant he looked around to see if there was anything else besides him and the bed in the room still.  
They didn’t use the term but it was practically a cell. 

They had also separated the trio. Shinji couldn’t remember the last time he had slept without Asuka next to him. It made him uneasy. And after everything that happened yesterday, as exhausted as he was, it made for a restless night. 

Another rapid series of knocks echoed from his door.  
“Mr. Ikari, are you awake?” A muffled voice asked. 

“Yes, come in,” Shinji shouted over. 

He heard an electronic beep as the door unlocked and a couple of UN security guards stepped into the room.  
One of them dropped a set of clothes neatly folded in a plastic wrap onto his bed beside him. 

“Please change into these and we will escort you to the briefing room. The Commander would like to speak with you.” 

Shinji gave a nod and they stepped outside, giving him some privacy to change. 

Shinji ripped open the plastic wrap and held up the new clothes in front of him. It was a khaki uniform reminiscent of what the NERV staff used to wear. Shinji couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, but it wasn’t out of amusement. He was getting tired of seeing so many familiar sights, but at least he had some fresh clothes. 

He stepped out in the new uniform to see Asuka and Toji dressed in a similar fashion, waiting with their own set of guards.  
“Good morning,” Asuka said, “looking sharp there.” 

**** 

The guards led them back into the boardroom where Amagi had taken them the other night, but this time, only a single person was waiting for them. 

He sat at the head of the table. He was an older gentleman with silver hair and broad features and donned a clean brown suit. 

“Ah, the trio of the hour,” he said warmly, “please, have a seat.”  
The three of them quietly took their seats at the table. 

“I am Suzutsuki, Commander of the East Branch of UN Naga Operations, it seems I missed quite a night,” he chuckled. 

The three of them quietly nodded, trying to get a read on this person. None of them really had a great time with the last Commander they knew. 

“I’ll cut to the point. Captain Amagi brought me up to speed with who you people are, and I must say, I’m still skeptical.” 

“It’s a wild story, but everything we’ve explained to you is true as far as we know,” Asuka said.  
The Commander smirked, “Last night we snuck a background check on you guys. You didn’t match with a single identity in the entire United Nations database. I think I’d have an easier time believing you _are_ from a parallel dimension. And the reports don’t lie. You seem to have an undeniable intelligence on this new enemy.”

“Right, the Angels,” Asuka affirmed.  
The Commander leaned up against the table in intrigue, “and you say this isn’t the last of these things we’ll be seeing?” 

“I’m afraid we can’t guarantee we’ll get all the details right,” Asuka said, “but the one thing we can assure you is that there will be more on the way and that we are here to help you deal with them.” 

“And that’s why I’ve brought you here. I’m here to make it official. Offer you a job if you will. Those uniforms are yours to keep if you so wish. I’ve also already arranged proper living quarters and even pay for you. We can hammer out the details.” 

The three looked at him, stunned. They had been tossing in their heads on how they were going to possibly convince these people here to believe them at all. But here was the Commander of the organization not only offering full cooperation, but benefits as well.  
They hadn’t really thought about their long term stay, but they really did come to this world with literally nothing but the clothes on their back. If these people were offering a place to stay and an income for them, it was a no-brainer. 

“That’s very kind of you, yes of course we’ll accept,” Asuka said eagerly. She looked over the two boys to make sure she wasn’t incorrectly speaking for them, but Shinji and Toji were nodding vigorously.

“Excellent!” Commander Suzutsuki said with a pearly smile. He stood from his share and went to shake each of their hands, “We’ll need to do a lot of paperwork. You people are starting from square zero after all.”  
“No problem, sir,” Toji said, gripping his hand, “jeez, really thank you.”  
“It’s me who should be thanking you. Go outside and the guards will bring you over to one of the offices. They’ll have you take care of everything there.” 

The three exchanged excited looks as they exited the room.  
“Let me ask you real quick,” the Commander said, stopping them at the door, “do you know when the next Angel is coming?”  
“Not for a couple weeks I believe,” Shinji frowned.  
“The fourth… It’s that giant purple snake thing, right?” Asuka mused.  
“I thought it looked more like a squid,” Toji said.  
“I guess from below when it uses those whip arms it kinda does…”  
The three paused when they noticed the Commander watching them with slight amusement, an eyebrow raised.  
Toji chuckled nervously, “sorry, our memory is a bit suspect.”  
“Like I said,” Asuka smiled, “we unfortunately don’t have all the details.”  
The Commander gave them a reassuring wave of the hand, “no worries, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss and strategize. If the next Angel doesn’t come for a while, why don’t you take the day off? If you really come from another dimension, maybe some time acclimating to our world would do you good. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“Can we?” Asuka exclaimed.  
Shinji had almost forgotten the rush of excitement he felt after seeing the rich civilization above them. They had been stuck underground in cramped rooms and corridors since then.  
Toji hadn’t even seen the outside and he could tell he was itching to. 

The Commander smiled, “We’ll make sure you get your first paycheck once you finish the paperwork, so go wild. But, we will have to assign you a detail to make sure you’re not up to anything. I do hope you understand.” 

“Oh, that’s fine, you have nothing to worry about.” 

“I look forward to working with you,” the Commander said.  
“We’ll be in your care.” 

****

The Commander was being generous about the amount of paperwork they had to complete. They got to a large administration room where three clerks guided them to separate rooms to go through mountains of forms.  
The process took him 2 hours. Shinji’s hand was sore from the sheer amount of signatures he scribbled down and his smile decayed with each ID photo he took. He was the first to finish his and the guards escorted him back to his cell first to wait for Toji and Asuka to finish up. 

Shinji went through the thick folder of papers he had been given. He had a new birth certificate, individual number, driver’s license, bank account, debit and credit cards, insurance. Everything.  
He pulled out his UN Staff ID where his picture wryly smiled back at him.  
He looked at the name printed front and center.

Gendo Ikari. 

There was a banging at the door, and he heard it open. Shinji got to his feet, expecting Toji or Asuka. 

Captain Amagi stormed into the room. 

“Oh, Captain,” Shinji let out, but he didn’t get to say any more before Amgai roughly grabbed his collar and shoved him against the wall.  
“Don’t get too comfortable just because the Commander’s giving you a cushy job here," She hissed, "I still have my eyes on you. If you ever endanger one of my pilots like that again, I will throw you in the Eva and see how well you can get an AT field going.”  
“You might be surprised.”  
Shinji felt the grip on his collar tighten. Shinji put up his hands, “Listen, I’m sorry. This was an emergency. Next time, we’ll be more prepared.”

Amagi almost hated that he apologized. She wanted an excuse to hit him. 

“An emergency? What if he couldn’t do it, huh? Then it would have been all over. What if he died?” 

“Captain Amagi, these Angels we told you about. This is just the beginning. Would you be shocked if I told you Sachiel is one of the weakest ones?” 

“That’s not the point,” Amagi seethed, she eyed the ID card he was holding in his hands still, “You think I’m stupid? I know your name isn’t really Gendo either. They were calling you Shinji in the interrogation room. What the hell are you hiding?” 

“You’re the one that’s not getting the point, Captain. My name and who I am are unimportant. The Angels are what’s important. These aren’t going to be your backyard brawls like with the Naga. This is for keeps. For me and you and especially your pilots. Listen, I have no intention of getting your pilots killed, but their lives will be continually on the line from here on out. Dying is a real possibility. I’m sorry, but like it or not, this is just something you’re going to have to get used to.”  
That was enough. He was pissing her off and she was already in a pissy mood to begin with. She no longer needed an excuse. 

Shinji saw Amagi raise her hand to strike him, but he made no move to stop it. This wasn’t the first time he was going to be hit for dealing with the 3rd Angel. If it helped her let off some steam, why not. Maybe the sting would help him block out the guilt he was feeling. Mutual gain. Shinji clenched his jaw. 

Behind them, she could hear the sound of the door opening.  
“Oh, there you are Sh… Ikari” Asuka said. 

Amagi looked over at her, now with a reaffirming hand on Shinji’s shoulder and a beaming smile, “Soryu, how are you?”  
Shinji awkwardly waved. 

“I’m doing alright. What are you guys talking about?” 

“Oh nothing, I was just asking him a few more questions about, you know, everything. It's a lot to take in, you know.” 

“Right,” Asuka nodded. She turned to Shinji, “Well, I think Toji’s almost done, shall we get ready to go? 

Shinji shrugged, “let’s do it.” 

Amagi didn't move for a second but eventually released Shinji and stepped back letting him gather his folder and leave the room. 

Shinji and Asuka walked silently down the hall for a bit before Asuka spoke up.  
“You okay?”  
“Don’t worry about it,” Shinji said.  
“If she was giving you trouble, I can have… a word.”  
“Don’t worry about it, Asuka.”  
“Right, okay,” she said softly. She threw on a smile, “well, nothing like a night on the town to ease the mind.”

Shinji was already envisioning himself breaking up a fistfight with her and Amagi, so he was mildly surprised that she had backed off so easily. She didn’t even really seem to press for details. But Shinji was relieved. They had enough enemies with the Angel. 

***

It was almost overwhelming the amount of things there were to see, to catch up on.  
They could always see the figures of UN intelligence agents lurking in the corner of their eye, but they stayed out of the way of their day in paradise.

Asuka dragged them into a huge clothing store first thing where she emerged with a glamorous new stock of clothes which she continually poked at for Shinji's opinion. And by that she meant praise.  
Shinji nor Toji were quite as excited for the clothes but knew they needed something. Toji got away with a stack of plain loose fitting attire, but Asuka made sure to pick out clothes for Shinji, claiming the tighter and flashier clothes were more stylish, much to his chagrin. 

There was no way they could possibly cover everything in a day, as even the most seemingly mundane things were things they they had long accepted were fantasy

They saw an ad for an amusement park that they mentally made a note of for the future.  
They debated whether to go see a movie. The thought of a novel blockbuster was tantalizing after being stuck with the same handful of movies and tv shows that they could salvage. In the end, they decided to save it for later as well.  
Asuka squealed in delight after tasting ice cream for the first time in a decade. Shinji couldn’t lie, he thought he shed a tear tasting it again as well.  
They fooled around in a batting cage for a couple hours. Probably longer than they needed to after Asuka insisted she could also get a homerun after Toji got one.  
When dinner time rolled around, they couldn’t help but enter the priciest restaurant they could find. Food wasn’t a critical issue back where they were, but it was still something that they needed to be mindful of and ration. But for the first time in a decade, they stuffed themselves on delicacies they had craved for years and some that they had never even heard of. 

Later that night they finally found themselves in a small bar.  
The bartender distributed each of their respective drinks.

A glistening strawberry martini with a salt rim, donning a slice of lime.  
A foaming ice cold beer filled to the rim.  
A glass of tap water.

They all took a swig of their drinks and gave a sigh of pleasure. 

“What is this, baby boy hour?” Toji playfully clinked his glass against Shinji’s plain water, “why don’t you live life a little more?”  
“Alcohol is gross, and the hangovers are never worth it,” Shinji said, taking another calm sip. He was already immune to these types of taunts from Asuka.  
“Acting all tough with just a beer, how sad,” Asuka said, coming to his defense. Apparently, it was only okay when she did it, “what is that, 4? 5% alcohol? Very ironic of you to speak of child’s play,” Asuka took a sip of her martini and almost melted, “God, why couldn’t a bartender have come back in all those years.”  
“Beer,” Toji said, dramatically holding up his glass, “is the essence of a man.”  
Asuka rolled her eyes, “10 years older, yet still so old fashioned.”  
“I thought as part German, you would have an appreciation for it as well.”  
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”  
“I can handle liquor if I want to,” Toji said, “I have nothing to prove to you.”  
“A claim that you won’t back up is meaningless," Asuka looked over at him with a sly smile, "What do you say, a few rounds of tequila? Think you can handle it?”  
“Let’s not get crazy,” Shinji said, “we already spent a lot of money today. We still need to budget ourselves here. We haven’t even gotten groceries.”  
“Oh my god, groceries. We can get real food,” Asuka said blissfully, “cans and vegetables, no more.” 

Shinji gave her a smile and stared down at the serene glass of water in his hands. He heard the incessant chatter of all the patrons around him. The blaring pop music in the background. The drowning sounds of life. 

***  
The whizz of chopper blades roared.  
Amagi looked out from the helicopter, assessing the damage at the Hakone walls where they had battled their first Angel. The repairs were already on their way.  
The NDZ or Naga Defense Zone was the former city of Yugawara, several kilometers south of Hakone. Since the Naga began attacking, it had been completely abandoned and kept off limits. After years of fighting, it probably should have been reduced to rubble, but the UN would actually make sure to occasionally rebuild portions of it.  
The Naga had a tendency to mindlessly destroy everything and anything manmade that they could find, so giving them new buildings to tumble was a good way to keep them occupied while they mounted an intercept. 

However, the Angel was completely different. It was uninterested in the hollow structures and had blown through the NDZ in record time. Instead it went straight for here, Hakone. And it almost made it through the wall, no less. Unlike the Naga, it definitely had a mission.  
They had looked for any trace of the Angel to study or analyze but they had come up with nothing. Its self-destruct had erased any trace of it, leaving only a few craters and a giant hole in their wall to remind them it was ever there. 

Amagi sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“You look tired,” the commander’s voice buzzed in her headphones. She looked back at him. He was seated across from her, looking right at her.  
“Maybe so,” her gaze drifting back outside the helicopter  
Amagi had been up for about 40 hours now. After yesterday's operation, she had been tirelessly submitting reports and going through paperwork, fueled by stress and a whole lot of coffee. She hadn’t had the time to afford a look in the mirror, but her face was probably showing it. Not to mention one of her pilots probably hated her now and she was still trying to get over the fact she would have to work with those three mysterious strangers.

“I know you don’t like them,” the Commander said, his gaze still on her, piercing farther into her mind. 

“Maybe so...” she simply repeated.

“I need you to look at something,” he said, withdrawing a tablet and offering it to her.  
Amagi frowned and took it. It had an album of photos opened and began to flick through them. She felt her eyes widen and the vigor at which she swiped increasing with each photo. 

“These came in from the United States NSA. They were taken just this morning off the coast of Guam. Around 0730 our time.” 

Guam was not a big island but it was still incredible to see almost its entire shoreline filled up with washed up Naga.  
Naga parts to be more precise.  
Limbs and torn up carcasses of the giant sea creatures littered the coast of the small piece of land. She could see their lifeless bodies already decaying into the sand.  
“They estimate about 77 Naga so far, and that’s only the ones on the beach. At least two bodies have washed up since this was reported implying that more may be more in the ocean.” 

Amagi put a hand to her mouth. This was more Naga than they defeated in a year sometimes. 

She continued swiping through the photos until one in particular made her freeze. A corpse of something that certainly wasn’t Naga, but was lying in the same grave. 

Two false eyes blankly stared up in the sky. She could see bite and claw marks all along its long purple body. It looked nothing like the mountain of Naga remains settled around it. It didn't even look anything like what they fought last night, but somehow she knew what it had to have been.  
Another Angel.  
Looks like the Naga somehow managed to beat their Angel visitor too. 

“But they said the next one wouldn’t come in a few weeks.” 

“Right, but the description they gave of it matches, even though this hasn’t been disclosed to pretty much anyone yet. They don’t know everything, but they know some things. And that’s a hell of a lot more than us.”  
Amagi’s eyes flickered over as they made another pass over the Hakone Wall. This was the first time in 3 years that a threat had reached the wall and the first time ever that something had broken it. 

“Captain, this is shaping up to be a real War of the Worlds, and I need all the help I can get, do you understand?” 

Amagi nodded. Ikari’s words burned in her mind.  
_“Like it or not, this is just something you’re going to have to get used to.”_

How frustrating. Yet another thing in her life she had no say over. 

“Besides,” the Commander said trying to reassure her, “you know what they say about keeping friends and enemies close by.” 

***

Toji and Shinji trudged their way back to the address they had given them that would be their new living quarters. Shinji was carrying an out-of-commission Asuka on his back. Even though he had stopped her from getting into a drinking contest with Toji, that didn’t stop her from ordering plenty of shots for herself. Toji’s arms were full with the spoils of their shopping spree. 

The road they were walking was quiet and barren, letting them look up at the flashy lights of the city in peace against the ambience of a nearby highway.  
“Mind if I smoke?” Shinji asked, pulling out a pack. He managed to sneak into a corner convenience store and buy one while Asuka was running around in the outlet stores.  
“Ah, so you do have a vice,” Toji grinned, “go for it.”  
“You smoke?”  
“Nah, never tried.”  
“Do you want to try?”  
Toji paused for a second, “I think I’m good.”  
“Good answer,” Shinji said, lighting the one already in his mouth. 

They continued walking through the town together in silence. They were tired, but it was a bit awkward.  
Shinji had been meaning to ask, so he might as well now, “so what happened after you killed me?”  
Toji looked over, “what?”  
“In your world, what happened? Sounds like it was similar enough until, you know, you killed me.”  
Toji gave a soft laugh, “oh right, well I dunno. After the activation test went nuts, you heard I was the pilot and rushed over in your Eva to save me. Said you’d die trying. And, well, you did. Asuka and Rei really beat the shit out of me after that.”  
Shinji couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, “How interesting. In my time, no one told me that was you in Unit 03. Not until afterwards...” It was a conflicting feeling. Shinji had always wished someone, anyone, had told him back then that Toji was chosen to be the Fourth Child. But, it seemed that knowing ended up getting him killed. What a cruel twist of fate. 

“Yep, well, I was out of commission for a while after that, but eventually they salvaged Unit 03 and put me back on duty to fill your shoes. We beat all the Angels somehow, and then Instrumentality and all that happened and now I’m getting by with my sister and Hikari and her sisters somewhere in Ibaraki I want to say.”  
“Well, that’s nice,” Shinji said. Toji was being pretty vague. He guessed he didn’t want to get into a whole lot of details. Shinji wasn’t any different. He briefly went over how it played out with him. How he ended up on that beach with just him and Asuka, and how, before this, they were living in the ruins of Kyoto together. 

“And now we’re here,” Toji said, “can't believe all this is what we’ve been missing out on. Even before Third Impact.”  
“I know right,” Shinji said, blowing out some smoke, “Definitely an upgrade, overall.” 

“...You can’t see the stars, though” Toji said. 

Shinji looked over at him with a funny look but Toji was blankly looking up past the bright city lights at the night sky now.  
Shinji joined him looking up at the dull gray sky. He thought he could make a twinkling star out but he realized it was just a solitary plane, lazily moving through the air. 

“Huh ...I guess you’re right.” 

Shinji brought the cigarette up to his lip for another drag when something swatted it out of his hands. He frowned.  
“I thought you said you quit,” Asuka said groggily, not showing any other indication she was conscious.  
“That’s dangerous…” Shinji sighed. He reached over with his foot and stomped out the glowing butt.  
“That’s my line,” she repositioned herself on his back and drifted back into sleep. 

*** 

They finally came upon a nice uptown complex. They had offered them three studio apartment rooms next door from each other on the second floor. But Shinji unlocked one of the doors and entered with Asuka still on his back. He turned and said good night to Toji before closing the door.  
“We’ll get our stuff tomorrow,” Shinji said.  
Toji gave him a wink as he entered his own room. 

Shinji didn’t even bother turning on the lights or taking his time to look at his new place. He went straight to the bed and gently put Asuka down on one side of the bed and climbed beside her in the other. 

He hefted out a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. The modern ceiling fan stood motionless above him, the wide center light fixture staring back at him. 

He wondered if he could get used to this one. 

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Look at this monster of a chapter lmao. This is basically the end of the first arc, but I'm excited to get into the rest. Hope you stick around!
> 
> Trivia  
> -lots and lots of parallels in this chapter, see if you can spot em all. Particularly between the Sachiel fights. This battle was pretty straightforward, but expect more twists in future engagements.  
> -Eva Trivia: Suzutsuki is from the same class of ships as, you guessed it, the trusty Vice Commander Fuyustuki.


	5. Wargame with God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Angels continue their attack but they have a few surprises for the human defenders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.
> 
> Temporary note: this chapter was a bit hectic and rushed as it is but usually, I write the draft and first few edits on a doc and then copy it onto here and make the final revisions. Well, my computer crashed just as I was about to post yesterday putting me a couple versions back. I'm gonna be busy the next few days so I wanted to still get the chapter out. Forgive me if there are an uncharacteristic amount of grammatical or formatting errors, Ill be back to clean it up, promise.

# Episode 5

#### Blitzkrieg

_August 12th  
1722  
UN East Branch HQ, Hakone _

“Well, if it isn’t the young lady.”  
Shinji and Asuka were walking the halls of the UN HQ when they passed by a parade of UN officers. The man in the front was dressed in a jet black suit and a matching officer cap. He held up a hand, signalling his posse to pause as he had a word with Asuka.  
“Oh, hello sir, have we met?”  
“Not formally, but you made quite an impression at the war room a couple days ago, you know,” the general chuckled, “General Kururgi’s got a big mouth, a lot of people wish they could put him in his place like you did. And in such spectacular fashion too.”  
“I know how strong personalities can be in these types of situations, I hope he didn’t take it personally,” Asuka smiled, “that insignia on your cap, Air Force?”  
The general gave another hearty laugh, “a sharp mind, a sharp tongue and a sharp eye. Hey, if you ever get sick of Suzutsuki and those robots, you should come my way.”  
They exchanged another few rounds of friendly banter before they let eachother go. 

“My, my, popular as always, Ms. Langley,” Shinji teased.  
“My looks are probably just a sight for sore eyes for the old man,” Asuka said dismissively, but Shinji could tell she was elated from the flattery. 

They had been adjusting quite nicely to the UN organization. Everyone they had met so far seemed to have fairly good intentions and were plenty cooperative.  
At face value, of course.  
Shinji, Asuka, and even Toji knew better than that.  
They did some investigating trying to find the presence of any shadowy organizations pulling the strings, however any equivalent of SEELE or a conspiracy seemed absent. But that was somewhat expected. They only had limited clearance in the UN hierarchy after all.  
.  
They were also aware this distrust went both ways. Although most of the UN staff warmly welcomed their help, they could feel the prying eyes and attentive ears wherever they went. Even Commander Suzutsuki, as friendly as he seemed, gave off an aura of reservation at times. Sometimes Shinji honestly preferred Amagi’s straightforward disdain over this passive game of cat and mouse. But in the end, he had no intention of betraying them, so maybe he’ll gain their full trust eventually. 

“Anyways, where should we grab dinner?” Asuka asked.  
“We should wait for Toji before we decide,” Shinji said.  
“Well, he’s already late,” Asuka frowned, “The simulation training session should have ended a while ago.” 

***

“Remember, keep that AT field deployed and fire.”

Toji watched with his arms crossed as the three evas fired their rifles at their respective Angel simulation targets. 

“End simulation.”  
Reports popped up all over the screen and Toji leaned in, scanning through the feed of data. 

“There’s still quite a gap,” Toji observed. Once again, Shokaku’s results were significantly higher than his two fellow pilots.  
“Well, that’s to be expected, he actually managed to get the AT field out back then,” one of the technicians said, “He also had the highest synchro rate from the start.”  
“Well, that’s not surprising. He’s piloted two years longer than the other two right?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“Well, at least the other two can get one going now. They’ll catch up. Having three pilots from the beginning will be a big help,” Toji said. He stepped forward and pressed down on the intercom, “Alright, we’re running it one last time!”  
He could hear the three pilots groan.  
“Hey, don't give me that. Practice makes perfect.” 

***

Hojo Ryou, the pilot of Unit 03 closed his locker and stretched his shoulder, “man, they’re really putting the hours on us now aren’t they?”

“Well this stuff is important,” Shokaku shrugged. They had changed out of their plugsuits and back into more casual clothes and stepped out of the locker room, “We never know when the next time we could be attacked is and this stuff will really make a difference out there.” 

“I guess you’d know. Seriously, I’m still not over you beating that Angel. It was quite impressive,” Hojo grinned, throwing his arm around Shokaku’s neck, “And you’re already acing these new AT tests. I expected nothing less from our fearless leader.” 

Shokaku gave him a laugh, “oh come on. It’s because I already have combat experience.” 

“We fought that thing too, remember. Two versus one and we still lost. I don’t know how you did it, man. That thing got a hold of my neck and I was out of there. The Angels are pretty scary, dude. I ejected so fast... ” Hojo shook his head. 

“Very fast,” Chitose Aoi, grumpily piped in. The pilot of Unit 04 was waiting for them in the hallway, changed into her own casual clothing, “I wouldn’t have exactly called our fight a two versus one…” 

“Hey, hey, sorry, sorry,” Hojo laughed, “It all worked out though, right?” 

Shokaku laughed, “right…” He looked down at his hands. A sick feeling was forming in his stomach.  
“What’s up?” Hojo said, noticing his somber expression, “Let me guess, you’re still fighting with Amagi?” 

“No,” Shokaku snapped, “well, I mean, I am, but that’s not it.” 

Chitose shot him a concerned look, but before she could say anything Hojo started again, “well, nothing like a good lunch to take your mind off things, I’m sure it’ll work out. You guys can’t fight forever. Where should we grab food?” 

They took all but one step before the piercing sound of an alarm echoed through the hall.  
“Oh what the…” 

Simultaneously, their communicators went off requesting them to battle stations. 

“Damn, for real?” Hojo exclaimed. 

“Do you think it’s another Angel?” Chitose said. 

“Doesn’t matter, come on,” Shokaku said grimly. 

***

Shinji, Toji, and Asuka entered the war room where the Commander, Amagi, and a couple UN operators were waiting for them. 

“What’s the situation?” Asuka asked, taking her seat. 

Amagi didn’t waste any time, “30 minutes ago, we got an alert of an unidentified object near French Polynesia. These images just came back.” 

On the screen appeared a massive octahedron, it’s surface a glossy reflective blue.  
The giant fortress Angel hovered over the ocean waters. Shinji could practically hear its transcendent tone. 

“Ah, the 5th,” Toji said without a hint of enthusiasm. 

“Ramiel, just as you described,” the Commander nodded, flipping through a thick packet of papers. 

Over the past few days, Shinji, Toji, and Asuka spent the majority of their time putting together a report of all the information of the Angels they had combated and presenting it to the UN staff in a paper they aptly dubbed the ‘NERV File’. Learning that Shamshel had arrived so early was quite a shock and they wasted no time getting a rough draft out to them as quickly as possible.  
It wasn’t perfect. Some of the details were shoddy and they only got to the next few Angels, but it compiled everything they could remember about each one. From its physical description to combat capabilities and more importantly, how they had been defeated. 

“Well then I assume you’re familiar with our contingency for it,” Asuka said, “this is definitely one of the strongest Angels, but it has the most straightforward counterattack.” 

“Straight forward is a word for it…” Amagi said, picking up her copy of the packet, “Operation Yashima…”  
“The use of one Positron Sniper Rifle powered with a terrawatt of energy. We do have a similar weapon design, but it never got approved for production. It’s charge up time and energy requirements were deemed impractical for Naga combat. However, we have managed to dust off the plans from our shelves and produced a modified version for our Evangelion that matched the specifications you’ve detailed,” the Commander said, “We’ve also mobilized tasks force to rapidly prepare a collection of energy from all of Japan for Operation Yashima.” 

“Right, so we just need a good vantage point and a clean shot through the core will do the trick. I believe we’ve recommend Futagoyama mountain?” Toji said. 

“Whoever came up with this must have been insane,” Amagi said. 

“A very ambitious, but doable plan... however, there is one issue,” the Commander said. 

Shinji grimaced, “Can you remind me where French Polynesia is?” 

The Commander smiled, impressed by his keen intuition, “It’s in the Pacific Ocean. The South Pacific Ocean. The Angel is projected to make landfall in 39 hours… at the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. 

“Ohhhhhh, crap…” Toji sighed, “The first casualty of war really is the plan…” 

“It’s going for ADAM…” Shinji muttered. 

“Well, what have we got to work with there?” Asuka asked, stroking her chin. 

“I mean, it’s Antarctica,” Amagi shrugged. “There’s a couple of research stations, most notably the UN research facility that studies ADAM at Mount Markham is pretty impressive, but the presence of military assets there are literally 0.  
“It also might be one of the worst places to try and attempt Operation Yashima besides perhaps the Sahara Desert,” Amagi continued, “The Ross Ice Shelf has got to be the flattest place on the planet which will make finding a suitable vantage point a herculean task. And then I’d gather the electricity generated in all of Antarctica barely reaches a few gigawatt not to mention a terawatt.”  
“Well, that’s awesome,” Toji growled. 

“You think that’s all, get a load of this,” the Commander said, “these came in not long after.” 

Another image flashed up on the screen. An aerial view of more ocean water.  
Shinji didn’t see anything at first, but upon closer inspection, he could see a swarm dark murky shapes beneath the surface of the waves. 

“Wow, I don’t presume those are just some nice peaceful whales,” Toji sighed. 

“Taken in the Tasman Sea just off of New Zealand. A whole school of Naga.” 

Toji began applauding sardonically and Shinji saw Asuka bow her head with a sigh. 

“The previous record for highest number of Naga to make landfall simultaneously was 5 in 2023. A couple days ago we had 9. There are at least 33 Naga seen here,” the Commander flipped to the next slide which showed the projection data, “I’m assuming this is redundant. They will be landing in a similar area a mere 30 hours from now.”

“Well, I suppose we should cross each bridge as they come,” Asuka said, “If we go and take care of the Naga, that still leaves us 9 hours to get ready for Ramiel…” 

“Way ahead of you, We’re prepping our Evangelions and defense force for transport right now. We have our own plane ready for launch.” 

“Then there’s no time to waste.” 

“I’ve always wondered what Antarctica was like,” Toji mused. 

***

NERV and the JSSDF had access to some amazing military assets. But over the past few days, if there was anything that Shinji learned about the United Nations of this world, it was that even NERV at its prime was paltry compared to the military might of a fully functioning global organization mobilized for battle, unhindered by a global catastrophe and war. 

Shinji looked out the side of his plane as it lifted off from the airstrip and joined fleets of bolstered military cargo aircrafts blanketing the skies, over the setting sun. Shinji couldn’t even count them all. It reminded him of the birds he’d see migrating en masse, in more than one way. Aside from the number, they too had a destination. Antarctica. 

Shinji settled into his seat and got comfortable. It was going to be a long flight. 

TIME OF NAGA ARRIVAL: 19 HOURS 19 MINUTES  
TIME OF RAMIEL ARRIVAL: 29 HOURS 22 MINUTES

***

_August 13th  
Antarctica  
0657 JST_

Shinji woke to a soft rumble. He groaned and looked around. He was still on the plane. Asuka was delicately leaning on his shoulder, still asleep. Across from him, he could see Toji arms folded, head leaned back, also fast asleep with his mouth hanging open. Farther down the plane, he could see Amagi flipping through papers under the weak passenger light.  
“Are we almost there?” he called over to her.  
“We’re descending now,” she said, without looking over at him. 

Shinji looked out the window of the plane and he couldn’t help but feel a smile creep onto his lips.  
“Hey Asuka…” Shinji said breathlessly, “check it out.” He gently shook her awake. Asuka muttered as she was stirred from her sleep and groggily lifted her head.  
“Hm?” she said, still half asleep, but her eyes snapped open when she looked out the window.  
The plane was racing over a seemingly endless expanse of pure white snow and ice.  
“Woah…” she said. 

***

Toji woke up not long afterwards and the four prepared for their landing.  
“Jesus Christ,” Toji said. Shinji turned to see him holding up a huge thick coat that looked heavier than he was, “is it really that cold?” 

Amagi frowned as she zipped up her own coat, “it’s Antarctica…”

Toji laughed, “well, there’s a funny story about that place where we come from…” 

“Temperature says its -22 degrees Celsius over there right now… ” Asuka said. 

Toji let out a gagging sound and Shinji himself almost fell out of his chair. He’s been cold before, but seeing how a coat this big would be necessary was almost unfathomable. 

*** 

Luckily, weather conditions were favorable for the mass transport of supplies and manpower to the remote icy continent and they touched down on an airstrip without issue. 

They stepped out of the plane and Shinji was greeted with an icy blast of the frigid air, “Yep, these coats are pretty important,” he instantly understood.  
Asuka excitedly rushed out past him off of the airstrip. She flipped into and landed on the nearest pile of snow she could find with a satisfying crunch.  
“Shinji, check it out!” She began waving him over.  
He wasn’t as energetic as Asuka, but he obliged and treaded on over to where she was. He gave a hearty exhale and found immense pleasure in seeing his breath cloud up in a massive fog in front of him. 

Shinji walked up next to Asuka as she rolled around in the snow, “This feels so weird!”  
“Aren’t you cold?”  
Asuka got back up to her feet and began stomping now, making deep prints in the snow, “not at all!”  
“What about now?” he grinned. He grabbed a small scoop of the snow and sprinkled it onto the back of her neck. Asuka yelped in surprise and tripped, falling face first into the snow eliciting a suppressed snicker from Shinji.  
“You’re gonna regret that!” Asuka yelled, turning over with a scoop of snow in her own hand and flung it at Shinji. Shinji raised his arm to shield himself and bent down to get another scoop of snow. He tried to pack it into a snowball but when he flung it at Asuka, he watched it disintegrate in the air.  
“Huh, TV makes those seem easier to make…”  
Shinji was blindsided by a pack of snow on the side of his head, “Gah!” he spun and fell into the ground next to Asuka who cracked into a laugh.  
“You gotta pack 'em reeaal nicely. They’re supposed to pack a punch,” Toji smirked, tossing up and down another snowball in his hand.  
“Noted,” Shinji said. 

“Hey, you three, this isn’t a vacation,” Amagi said, stepping down from the plane, “There’s a car waiting for us, let’s go.”  
“Boo!” Asuka said.  
Toji gave a shrug and weakly tossed his remaining snowball over his shoulder.  
The three trudged and followed her down the airfield, “You guys are acting like this is the first time you’re seeing snow...” 

The three exchanged glances, “maybe.” 

“Hey, Shinji, look,” Asuka said, pointing over to the distance. Shinji’s gaze followed her outstretched finger.  
Far in the horizon, a group of small figures waddled around in white plains of snow. Shinji could barely make it out and they didn’t look quite the same as the one he knew, but it didn’t take long for him to recognize what they were. 

“Oh neat,” Amagi said, “Penguins. How cute.” 

*** 

The car took them across the snowy field and they could see the huge transantarctic mountain in the horizon where the research base was. 

They reached the base of the mountain and came upon towering doors that lead into a massive hangar area carved in the inside of the mountain. Shinji could already see two Evangelions on standby. They passed an enormous vehicle with tires the size of a small house, on its huge metal bed lay the third of the Evas.

As fun as it was seeing Antarctica for the first time, seeing the biomechanical robot whipped Shinji back into reality, reminding him of why they were here.  
It wasn’t for vacation. They had a job to do. 

TIME OF NAGA ARRIVAL: 05 HOURS 08 MINUTES  
TIME OF RAMIEL ARRIVAL: 15 HOURS 11 MINUTES

Their car arrived at a huge conveyor system that carried their vehicle farther up the mountain until they came out the other side at another hangar of equal size.  
When they exited that one, they found themselves a wide flat plateau in the middle of the mountain range.  
It was clear that this area was not natural. It was almost a perfectly circular area with sheer mountain sides surrounding it. The whole area reminded Shinji of a crown. Dozens of impressively sized research buildings were scattered around the area making it seem like its own miniature city. Or maybe a campus was a more appropriate analogy.

They exited the car and entered a large building near the center of the camp and took an elevator down. 

“This is the area in which the White Moon landed on Earth. Right below us is a Geofront similar to Lilith’s in Japan,” Amagi explained.  
“And ADAM is right below us?” Asuka asked.  
“Right.” 

“Where did Shesha land?” Shinji asked out of curiosity. Shesha was what they called the Naga Seed of Life.  
“It landed somewhere off Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific. But the body of Shesha itself has been transported to Boston in the US for research for some time now.”  
Shinji nodded. Good info to know. 

***

“Good, you’re already here,” Amagi said.  
“Yes, now we can all die together,” Hojo said.  
Amagi just shot him a glare. 

Amagi and the three former pilots entered a room and found the three current pilots waiting for them. 

Shokaku said, “Do we actually have a game plan yet?” 

“We’re sticking with the basic premise of Operation Yashima, I hope you did your homework,” Amagi said. The pilots were among the people to receive a copy of the NERV File  
“We ran through the calculation. We should be able to transport enough power cells here to charge a shot from the positron sniper. But since we’re going to be relying on battery systems and not generators, we’re only getting one shot.”  
“One shot?” Hojo said, incredulously, “that’s absurd.”  
“You’ll need a lot of luck to get a second shot in, and getting a third would probably take a miracle,” Shinji shrugged, “I don’t think our win condition has changed much. Besides,” Shinji smiled, “one shot will be all you need.”  
“Shokaku, since you have the highest synch rate, you will be our sniper,” Asuka said. 

Shokaku smirked, “right.” 

“So what do we have to do?” Chitose asked. 

“We’ll be setting up two dummy positions just ahead of the real sniper. According to our file here, the Angel doesn’t tend to move and fire its attack at the same time. You need to draw its fire and keep it still for long enough so Shokaku can get a clean shot.” 

All three pilots nodded. 

“But before we can prepare for all that, we are going to have to neutralize the Naga first.” 

“I’m really waiting for someone to tell me there was a typo on that briefing report,” Hojo said. 

“I’m afraid not,” Amagi said. Hojo could only reply with a face of contempt. 

“Over 33 Naga…” Chitose said. Hojo liked to whine a lot but she was on his side for this one. They had never fought even close to this many Naga at once before, not to mention in a flat open arena with no cover. 

“With your AT fields, I think you’ll find your combat capabilities exponentially enhanced,” Asuka reassured them. This fight will show you the fruits of your labor.”

“Well I hope so…” 

“No time to waste,” Amagi said, “Standby for Eva launch.” 

****

_August 13th  
Antarctica  
1215 JST_

TIME OF NAGA ARRIVAL: UNDETERMINED  
TIME OF RAMIEL ARRIVAL: 9 HOURS 3 MINUTES

Shokaku sat with his eyes closed in the entry plug, meditating. The massive Unit 01 was taking a knee out in the snow at the head of a huge column of armor and missile launchers ready to back him up.  
Hundreds of artillery units were scattered about the icy plains prepared to give them supporting fire for the supposedly upcoming battle.  
On either side of him were the other two Evangelions.  
Chitose nervously rubbed her hands together inside the interior of Unit 04  
Hojo sat in his Eva, his head resting on his hand in Unit 03, bored. 

***

“What’s the status of the Naga,” Amagi said.  
“They are still holding their position in the water, 300 km out. 

“Is it weird for me to say that now I kind of want the Naga to come,” Hojo said. 

Amagi seethed. She sort of agreed with him, but not in the same way. At this point it was hard to deny. 

The Naga were no longer moving

And they didn’t seem to have any intention to at all. Their estimated arrival time was an hour ago. They even dropped a couple of depth charges over where they had stopped to try and agitate them, but to no avail. 

“We really need to start setting up the positron snipers soon,” one of the operators said. 

“It’s risky,” Amagi muttered, “if they begin attacking while we’re preparing our position, our plan could fall apart.”  
She looked at the mission clock. Exactly nine hours left before the Angel arrived. If they didn’t get all set up in time, then that wouldn’t leave them in an any better situation. 

“Okay, I’m giving the green light to begin set up for operation against Ramiel. Pilot’s we’re going to need your help setting everything up, but be ready for the Naga if they decide to attack.” 

“Roger.” 

***

_August 13th  
Antarctica  
2126 JST_

TIME OF NAGA ARRIVAL: UNDETERMINED  
TIME OF RAMIEL ARRIVAL: 2 HOURS 14 MINUTES

Chitose hefted the huge magnetic shield onto the snow. That should have been the last of what she needed.  
She looked around at her position where she would be distracting the Angel. It was nothing fancy. They had planted a wide variety of remotely controlled missile pods to get the Angels attention and she herself was given a couple weapons and this enormous shield to protect herself. 

Although she was all set up, she looked up to the sky and saw hundreds of planes still flying in supplies for the positron sniper. A steady shipment of charged industrial battery systems were being brought in from all over the southern hemisphere. It was still sunny, even though it would have been night back in Japan. Being at one of the poles, the sun doesn’t really set here. 

“This is Unit 04 to Mobile Command, I’m all set up here. Green for Operation.”  
“Very good Unit 04, standby for further instructions.”

Chitose sighed. Still 2 hours until the Angel arrived and the Naga still weren’t making a move. All she could do now was wait. This was the longest she’s been in an Eva in a while and was about to stand up and stretch when She felt something shift underneath her Eva. 

Chitose frowned and looked down at the ice beneath her.  
“What the,” Chitose said, partially stunned. The ground was definitely shaking. Vibrating. It felt like an earthquake. But here?  
And then there was a thunderous snap as the first crack in the ice appeared. 

“Uhm, Command I think the ice is breaking underneath me…” her voice was strangely calm as she tried to process what was happening. 

*** 

Everyone in the mobile command center perked up.  
“Is the Eva and all that equipment too heavy?” Toji asked.  
“No, we’re in the middle of an ice shelf hundreds of meters thick,” Amagi said shaking her head, but she didn’t have any clue what else it could be, “Unit 04… are you sure?” 

***

“Yes I’m sure!” Chitose yelled suddenly realizing her situation. She thought maybe it was some strange tremor and that it would subside, but the shaking was getting more and more violent now. So much so that she had to hold her hands out to keep steady. She widened her stance to even out her get a more stable position.  
She felt like she was right at the epicenter. In fact, the epicenter felt right below her… 

The ice below her broke and Chitose leapt up into the air to avoid being swallowed into the ground. But where she had expected the ground to cave inwards, instead, it exploded upwards, showering the Eva in water and snow.  
And along with the burst of ice, the jaws of something titanic emerged with it. A mouth already stretched open, revealing rows and rows of jagged teeth the size of her Eva’s arm. It soared into the air with her and Chitose’s eyes widened as it clamped down.  
Unit 04 crashed headfirst into the ground, it’s right leg now inside the creature’s mouth. 

***  
Chitose’s scream through the comms was joined by a chorus of alarms and red lights in the mobile Command Center  
“Unit 04 is under attack, we’re seeing significant damage to its right leg.”  
“Those are bite patterns.”  
“Naga?” Amagi yelled. 

The visual feed from the Eva popped up onto the main screen. 

“No, thats…” Asuka gasped. 

Only the upper part of it was visible but it was clear to see that it was a beast of far greater size than any Naga. It’s tan color seemed almost a glowing white against the sun and snow.  
They could just make out a faceplate at the top end of its mouth.  
Two hollow eyes that looked up emptily and apathetically to the sky. 

#### Wargame with God

“An Angel?” Amagi shrieked.  
“Gaghiel, hello old friend…” Asuka sighed  
“Two Angels at once…?” Shinji muttered.  
“The first casualty of war…” Toji added somberly.  
“Well the second is going to be my fucking pilot,” Amagi screamed, “Shokaku, Hojo, Assist! Chitose is in trouble! Hurry!”

“Way ahead of you!” Shokaku yelled. He had been positioning the massive Positron Sniper Rifle, but as soon as he heard his fellow pilot was in trouble, he scrambled up from his sniper position and pressed forward on his control stick, bolting across the snowy fields at mach speed.

***  
The Angel began to sink back into the ice, the leg of Unit 04 still clamped in its mouth, threatening to tow her under.  
Chitose desperately clawed at the ice to stop her from being pulled under with one hand. The other was off the control stick and instead tensely gripping on her thigh, trying to choke out the white hot pain. Tears streamed from her eyes, melting into the LCL as the razor teeth continued to sink into her leg and pull on it, back underneath the ice. Her breath was ragged and she felt her whole body becoming weaker and weaker.  
“Cut the neural link!” Amagi shouted, “And blow the leg!”  
But it was too late. The Angel was one step ahead.  
The giant body of Gaghiel rolled, as an alligator would and Chitose let out a choked gasp as the Eva’s leg was completely torn off. The Angel slunk back below the surface, taking the limb as a souvenir and leaving the Eva lying still in the ice. 

***

“Chitose, you need to get out of there! Chitose!” Amagi yelled. 

“The pilot’s unconscious!” One of the operators yelled, “her vitals aren’t critical but she’s in shock.”  
“Damn, should we eject the plug?” Toji said.  
“No, too risky, there’s no cover out there, she’d be a sitting duck,” Asuka shook her head, “She’s safer in the Eva right now.” 

“I’m almost there!!” Shokaku’s voice yelled through the comms, “Hojo, where are you?!” He was closer than Shokaku had been, he should have already been there.

“I…” Hojo’s voice started. 

*** 

The ice exploded from underneath again, but instead of continuing its attack on the downed Unit 04, one of the remote missile launcher systems several meters off crumpled under the pressure of the Angel’s jaws. Gaghiel once again vanished back into the ice, almost as quickly as it had emerged, dragging down the equipment. 

***

“No, Unit 03, pull back and secure the positron rifle,” Asuka shouted , “If we lose the sniper, we lose our chance.”

“Uh…” Hojo stammered again, “pull back, right,” and he took off back towards base. 

***

The ice exploded again, taking another whole array of remote missile launchers.  
“Can’t we track it?” Amagi said, nervously.  
“The ice is too thick, we can’t” an operator yelled.  
“How the hell is it getting through the ice in the first place?” Toji said. 

“Unit 01, what’s your status?” 

“I see it!,” Shokaku shouted. He could make out the forms of the position ahead of him. As he got closer he saw the crumpled form of Unit 04 immediately and slid by next to it. He frantically looked around trying to find the threat but all he saw was a serene scenery of the ice. He could feel his breathing rate increase. Running in the Eva didn’t take his own stamina, but his stress levels were close to maxed out. 

He hoisted the Eva over his shoulder and began running back as fast as he could. But he only made it a couple steps before he felt the ground rumble beneath him. 

“Here it comes!” Amagi shouted. 

Shokaku gritted his teeth. He couldn’t dodge while carrying another Eva, but the rumbling was getting closer.  
He had no choice but to try and lob Unit 04 as far as he could and dive out the way.  
The Angel broke through the ice like a dolphin leaping from the water, it’s jaws wide open, ready to snatch anything in the way. Shokaku watched as its massive body rumbled past him like a bullet train. Holy shit it was big. He remembered how he noted that Sachiel’s size was around the same as the Eva and the Naga, but this overshadowed both of them combined. 

Just as quickly as it had burst from the ground, it arced down and dove back to the surface of the ice again. Just as it was about to land, the ice in front of it seemed to cave into itself, flushing into water, letting it dive gracefully out of sight, under the surface

“It must be using its AT field somehow to make its way through the ice…”  
“Hurry get out of there!” Amagi yelled.  
Shokaku scrambled back up to his feet and got a hold of Unit 04. 

He heard the ice break again further behind him and suddenly Unit 04 was ripped from his hands.  
“Damn!” Shokaku yelled. The Angel had gotten a hold of Unit 04’s umbilical cord and was now pulling on it, bringing the Eva closer and closer to it. Shokaku dove forward and locked onto the Eva. He withdrew his Prog Knife and quickly seared through the umbilical cord. The Angel pulled back into the ice once again out of sight.  
Shokaku scrambled to pick up Unit 04 and rushed to get as much distance as possible.  
He heard the ice break once more, but it was far back behind him. Gaghiel had gone back to tearing up the remainder of Chitose’s position. 

“This is Unit 01, I’ve secured Unit 04, returning to base now.”  
Shokaku sighed in relief, but he didn’t slow his pace until he made it back to the hangar. 

***

“That was the 6th wasn’t it? The one that’s supposed to come AFTER 5!?” Amagi roared at them, “What the hell is it doing here?” 

“I don’t know,” Asuka yelled, “I mean, Shamshel appeared way earlier than we said so I guess we should have anticipated something like this.” 

Amagi, Toji, Asuka, and Shinji watched the feed from an aerial drone. Gaghiel had finished trashing Chitose’s position and was now working on decimating Hojo’s.  
At that moment Shokaku and Hojo stepped into the room. 

“How is Chitose?” Shokaku asked.  
Amagi sighed “She’s fine, nothing crazy but her Eva is out of commission and she needs some rest to stabilize.”  
Shokaku let out a breath in relief. 

“Well, what are we going to do now?” Hojo said. 

At first no one said anything because they really didn’t know.  
“We need that Angel out of the way to set up the sniper rifle safely. There’s still a small chance we can beat it and get it setup before Ramiel arrives,” Shinji mused. 

“So how are we going to beat it, we can hardly get to it,” Shokaku asked.  
“You need to lure it out of the water,” Asuka took over, “this Angel is built for combat in the water. If you can get a hold of it and bring it out into the ice, we’ll have an easier time dealing with it.” 

“And how are we supposed to do that?” 

“Well how do you catch fish?” Asuka prompted, “Fishing. Fishing and bait.” 

“No,” Amagi said, “no, no, no… you’re insinuating that my pilots run out there in the open against that thing? There’s got to be another way…” 

“Well, I’m all ears,” Asuka said, eyeing the clock, “tick tock.” 

Amagi bit her lip.  
“Will that really work?” Shokaku asked, looking over at Shinji.  
Shinji nodded, “I agree, this will be our best chance at winning this whole thing. ” 

Shokaku now looked back over to Amagi, “let me do this.” 

He expected her to explode again, like she had in the hospital. They hadn't talked much since then and there was still a brewing tension between the two. But Amagi's face was one of silent resignation, “You’re really okay with going out there?” 

“Captain Amagi, if you want to have any chance of stopping the Angels, you need to use your pilots,” Shinji said.  
“Come on, Captain,” Shokaku pleaded, “believe in us.”  
Amagi nodded, “just be careful.” 

***

Unit 01 and Unit 03 lifted off once more and began wandering about in the snow, back out to dangerous waters.  
They were armed with pallet rifles and strolled aimlessly around, firing a couple rounds into the ground to hopefully bring out the Angel.

Hojo had been awfully quiet for the whole time but after some time he finally spoke up, “I don’t know if I can do this…”  
“What’s wrong?” Shokaku asked.  
“This… this is too much,” he said, shakily, “I mean… did you see what happened to Chitose? I don't… I can’t…”  
“What, are you scared?”  
“Yeah, I’m scared, is that so wrong?”  
“No that’s not wrong, what’s wrong is that you want to run away-”  
“Oh yeah, easy for you to say,” Hojo yelled, getting defensive, “Mr. Hero Hot Shot, slayer of Angels, over here isn’t scared. Shocker.”  
“Woah hey, who said I wasn’t scared?”  
“well you sure didn’t seem scared,” Hojo cried, “You came out here in the blink of an eye! We could die you know! Really die!”  
“You think I couldn’t have died when I fought that first Angel?” Shokaku said, “I need you here, man. We’re all counting on you, you can’t run away.”  
“That’s the problem! Chitose was right there, man,” Hojo said shaking his head, “I was way closer to her than you, and I didn’t even do anything. It was the same with the first Angel and the same thing is just going to happen here. I’m just going to freeze up and let everyone down again.” 

“So you think not trying at all is any better?” Shokaku said. 

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” Hojo shook his head and turned around to head back to base. Hojo could feel himself shaking. He thought it was just from his own emotions, but he paused, looking at the ground. 

“Hojo!” Shokaku yelled after him, “watch out!”  
“Oh, come on...” Hojo said

Gaghiel’s head sprung from the ice and lunged for Unit 03. Hojo dove out of the way, the jaws biting down at empty air. 

“Gotcha!” Shokaku lunged forward and, before the Angel could retreat back into the ice, wrapped his arms around its mouth. He dug the heels of his Eva in the ice and stopped it in its tracks. 

***

“I got it!” Shokaku yelled.  
“Reel!” Asuka shouted. The hydraulics of the umbilical cord began the churn. Shokaku felt the cord attached to the back of his Eva tense and begin pulling him along with the Angel back out over the surface. The Angel squirmed as the rest of its head popped out.  
However, the Angel wasn’t getting pulled up without a fight. Its huge mass of muscle reared back yanking Shokaku forward. The umbilical cord reeled jammed to a stop from the resistance.

*** 

“Hojo I need help! Come on! Grab it!”  
Hojo hesitated as he saw the massive Angel try and force its mouth open. Its teeth was bared and at full display. Its head shook around wildly trying to break free from the grip of the Eva. 

He clicked his tongue and instead ran over to Shokaku and wrapped his arms around Unit 01. 

“That’ll work,” Asuka said, “Reel in Unit 03 now!”  
Now Hojo’s umbilical cord went taut and the combined force of the two began forcing the Angel back out again.  
However, after the rest of its head was pulled out, the Angel was stuck again, but this time, not by its own power. It’s body was much more massive than the opening it made for its head and was now anchoring itself underneath the sheet of ice. 

“It’s stuck!” Shokaku shouted. 

“We need to loosen up that ice,” Toji said. 

“Do we have any artillery units in the area?” Amagi asked. 

**** 

“This is Unit 0609, receiving coordinates now, Standby.” 

“Firing at grid coordinate E722 F391. 1100 metes, Danger close.”

“One away.” 

The M109 Mobile Artillery Unit raised its cannon and fired a shot that the artillery crew watched arc over into the horizon.

***

The shell slammed into the ground right by the struggling the titans, splintering the ice and emitting a shockwave of snow. 

The rest of the Angel’s massive body burst through the crumbling ice and the Evas began dragging it back along with it its entire body was now almost on the surface. 

But Shokaku felt his grip loosen from the force of the blast. And now that more of the huge Angel was free to move, it bucked and squirmed even more ferociously.

He could feel it begin to slip from his arms.

“I’m losing my hold on it!” Shokaku yelled. He needed to let go and get a new grip, but he felt like if he released it for even a second, the Angel would get away. “Hojo! You need to grab it!”  
“Me?” Hojo shouted.  
“I can’t hold on!”  
“I…” Hojo said. 

“Come on, Hojo, just grab it!” Amagi said. 

“You want to know a secret?” Shokaku said, “Back when I fought the first Angel I was absolutely terrified, and I’m absolutely terrified right now. But people are counting on us, on you. You've got to at least try!"

“God damnit,” Hojo screamed, and before he could change his mind, he let go of Shokaku and leapt toward the Angel. He wrapped his arms further down its long mouth and locked his hands.  
“I got it!”  
“Good, yes!” Shokaku yelled. He shifted his position and pulled as well with a new surge of strength. The umbilical cord reel pulled and finally, the rest of the Angel burst out from the ice.  
The Angel’s massive body thrashed even more wildly now, its tail slamming against the ground and its body writhing to and fro. Jumping like a fish out of water. Hojo let go of its mouth and leapt for its tail now, trying to pin down the other half of its body. 

“Where’s this thing’s Core?” Shokaku yelled, pulling out his Prog Knife. 

“Oh, about that,” Asuka said, “It’s inside its mouth…” 

“Inside what!” Hojo shouted, “I am not getting that core.”  
“I don’t think we could if we tried,” Shokaku gritted. The Angel still continued to thrash violently around, the snow and ice only made it harder to pin it down. 

***

“Uhm, Captain,” one of the technicians said nervously, “we have movement in the North quadrant." "Don't tell me." 

A window flashed up on the screen showing the mass of red dots speeding towards them. They had already made landfall.  
The Naga were beginning to move again.”  
“Fuck!” Amagi cursed, “why now?”  
“Gaghiel’s presence must have been what was scaring off the Naga,” Shinji said.  
“Great, well that answers that question,” Toji said. 

“Do we have time to for this?” Asuka asked.  
They were already cutting it close dealing with Gaghiel and the presence of the Naga was putting them in the red. Amagi eyed the mission clock, “we have to deal with them either way." 

***

“Quickly, try and finish off the Angel and take care of the Naga!”  
“Okay… How!” Hojo said. It was taking all their strength just to hold the Angel down, not to mention finding a death blow.  
“How about we get two birds with one stone,” Shokaku said, “Enemy of my enemy?”  
“You got to be kidding me,” Hojo said.  
“You with me?” Shokaku asked.  
“God damn, I guess.”

*** 

The two lugged the Angel over a small ridge and when they cleared it they could see the Naga closing in, already making its way toward them.

“1, 2, 3!” Shokaku yelled. And with monumental strain, the two put forth the last of their strength, throwing forward the titanic Angel down the side of the hill. The Roaring Beast of God tumbled down the incline and came to a rest in the path of the stampeding Naga. 

“Now let’s get out of here!” Hojo shouted.

“Not yet, we need to make sure we keep its AT field down,” Shokaku said. 

The first Naga approached the giant beast without fear. The Angel easily twisted its body and grabbed the Naga in its jaws and flung it into the air. The Naga soared in the air and crashed into the snow far in the distance.  
The second Naga didn’t fare much better with the Angel of Fish chomping down on it, squashing its body between its massive jaws.  
However, the third managed to get to one of its fins, its razor teeth shearing at its skin.  
The Angel twisted its body trying to shake it off. It reached over and also managed to rip its head off in its teeth.  
But then the fourth got to its neck.  
And the fifth its tail. 

Shokaku and Hojo watched as the Naga overwhelmed the grounded Angel, swarming over its body until they could hardly see it under the frenzy of the feasting sea creatures. 

“Watch out, some are heading your way.” 

Shokaku and Hojo pulled out their prog knives and entered a fighting posture as they saw a group of Naga run past the Angel and straight at them. 

Shokaku never had an easier time dealing with Naga before. With his AT field, the Naga couldn’t even seem to get near him. His prog knife seemed to dig deeper and more cleanly than ever before. Before they even realized, both the pilots had sliced their attackers to ribbons. Ms. Langley was right, they could probably have taken care of all the Naga here with relative ease. But Amagi had an even faster solution. 

“Unit 01 and 03 pull back to base,” Amagi shouted, “we can take it from here.” 

“Way ahead of you!” Shokaku said and the two hightailed it back towards the base. 

They saw the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber glide by far overhead in the opposite direction. A mere dot passing by high in the clear blue sky above the chaos that was taking place below.  
It’s payload was a bit more visible.  
Hojo and Shokaku didn’t need to look to feel the huge pillar of destruction rise into the sky behind them, the N2 mine shattering the freezing air, the shockwave of the blast, making them stumble briefly. 

“Command, do we have any time to set up that rifle?” Shokaku asked as they made it back to the hangar. 

Shinji looked over at the clock.  
Amagi gritted her teeth, “No, Shokaku, just standby for now. We’ll… We’ll figure something out…” 

TIME OF RAMIEL ARRIVAL: 00 HOURS 00 MINUTES

They could do nothing but watch as the Angel of Thunder elegantly made its way over the war torn scape of the Ross Ice Shelf  
It flew by the decimated position where Chitose had been stationed.  
It flew by the charred remains of the Naga and its fellow Angel buried in the snow.  
It flew by the abandoned sniper fortress where Shokaku had been stationed.  
And The Angel of Thunder finally reached the research facility. It gently floated over the center of the facility and parked overhead.  
A drill projected from the bottom vertex that pierced through the rock like butter. 

It let out a haunting choral note that echoed around the empty valley of the mountains. 

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Lots of action in this one. I know Shinji Asuka and Toji didn't get a lot of limelight in this one but i wanted to flesh out the new guys a bit. Don't worry, Shinji is still the main character here. 
> 
> Trivia  
> -Most of chapter titles have double meanings but I'm particularly fond of Blitzkrieg. This was a term coined for the German tactics in WW2 of using a rapid overwhelming attack with the intent to break through the opponent's line of defense by short, fast, and powerful attacks much like Gaghiel. However, it also literally translates to "lightning warfare". What tends to come after lightning?  
> -I hope there aren't any experts in Antarctic geography or topography reading this... I tried to do my research but cut me some slack lmao.  
> 


	6. Once More, With Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinji once again finds himself in a decisive battle with the Angel of Thunder, but this time, he has a firm determination to defeat it. The question is if he can motivate the pilots to face it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.

# Episode 6

#### No Non-believers in a Foxhole

Amagi scoffed, “It seems the West Branch has gone ahead and pushed to move Shesha to Hakone too. They’ve already gathered their Eva units and the Pacific Fleet to bring it over to Japan.  
“If Angels are going to be attacking Seeds of Life, I guess they want it off their soil as soon as possible. With the speed they’re doing it at, you’d think they were already attacked.”  
“Well, they’re also arguing that they shouldn’t leave Hakone and Lilith undefended while we commence our operation here, so they think they’re doing us a favor.”  
“I’m guessing if we win this, we’ll be moving ADAM there too?”  
“Maybe. Probably I don’t know. Like we have time to deal with this right now…” Amagi scowled, “what they’re telling us is that the West Evangelion units aren’t available to help us.” 

She looked at the visual feed of the giant Angel currently drilling its way right towards them. It’s features were so simple, yet its presence so daunting.  
Shinji watched the feed silently as well, his hand unconsciously rubbing his chest. 

“They wouldn’t have made it in time anyways. We only have a little over two hours before it's projected to penetrate the Geofront,” one of the operators reported.  
Maybe they’d have more time at Hakone, but this rather peaceful research facility didn’t see the need to install special armor plating above itself. The drill of Ramiel was making its way at an alarming pace.

“How much energy do we have for the Positron Sniper Rifle?” Amagi asked  
Another technician spoke up, “we technically have all the power cells needed to generate a terawatt of energy, but now that it's right on top of us, we no longer have the space to attach them all in circuit. Maximum output we can effectively generate is about 700 gigawatts, just 70% of the needed power to break through the AT field.” 

There was silence in the Command Room. Their sniper seemed insufficient, they were down an Eva, and they only had 2 hours. 

“Well, shall we raise a white flag?” Toji said.

“Before we do that, there’s something I’d like to try…” Amagi muttered.

“What did you have in mind?” Asuka asked. 

“Well, this scenario obviously played out differently than you had described,” Amagi said, “most of it a bit for the worse…”  
“Putting it quite lightly…” Asuka chuckled sarcastically.  
“... but there may be one thing we could use to our advantage now.” 

“And what’s that?” Shinji asked. Having prior knowledge of these events was helpful for planning, but when it went as wrong as this, a fresh perspective was probably what was needed. 

“The Evas are still in the mountain hangar only a few couple meters away from the Angel,” Amagi said, “This opens the door to close quarters combat. I think our only hope is pulling off a full frontal assault.”  
Shinji frowned, but was intrigued, “go on…” 

“ Here’s what I’m thinking…” 

***

“She’s insane,” Asuka muttered, “You think it’ll work?” You are the only one that actually fought this Angel.”  
“Well the first time I fought it, it was ready to attack me even before I deployed so there very much is a good chance that’ll happen again.”  
“Not inspiring a lot of confidence...” Asuka groaned.  
“It’s our only plan. And there’s a lot of elements we’ve never tried. It just might work.”  
“I guess that’s all we can do. Hope,” Asuka sighed.

“So what about the pilots then,” Toji said. 

“Leave that to me,” Shinji said. 

*** 

Chitose Aoi slowly opened her eyes. 

Her first instinct was to get a feel of her leg. She patted it down, making sure it was all still there.  
“Welcome back,” a voice said.  
Chitose looked over to see Shokaku seated by her bed, a warm smile on his face.  
“Irony is a wicked thing,” Chitose sighed.  
Hojo walked up from behind him, “Are… you okay?” 

“Yeah, my head just hurts a bit. What’d I miss?” 

“We avenged your leg,” Hojo said with a small smile, but his shoulders slumped when he saw her wince, “sorry.”  
“Right, we managed to eliminate that shark Angel , but we couldn’t stop Ramiel. It's making its way here right now,” Shokaku said, jabbing his elbow into Hojo. 

“So we’re going to have to go back out aren’t we?” Chitose whispered.. 

“That’s right,” a voice piped up.  
Chitose turned her head to see Gendo Ikari seated patiently in the far corner of the room. 

“There’s an hour and a half before it penetrates the Geofront. There isn’t any time to waste,” Shinji stood up and went for the door, “come on, I’ll brief you on the way.” 

Shinji opened the door and paused there when he heard no one else making an effort to move.  
He looked back at the pilot’s downcast faces. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Do you even know what you’re asking?” Chitose seethed, she was clutching the hospital bed sheets with a firm grip. 

“Yes, I’m asking you to pilot the Eva again…” Shinji said flatly.

“Just like that? Do you even know what it’s like out there? Why the hell are we even here in freakin Antarctica anyways?” 

Shinji gave her a smile that showed every emotion except a positive one, “I had a feeling you’d say something like that. How much has Amagi and the UN staff told you about us?” 

Chitose looked at him, puzzled. All the pilots exchanged a glance, “just that you knew about Angels...” 

Shinji thought to himself for a second, “can you actually walk yet?” 

Chitose shuffled in bed for a second, getting a feel for her body again, “I feel alright.” 

“Then come with me for real. All of you. Hurry, we don’t have a lot of time. I’ll show you something first.” 

*** 

Shinji led them around eventually to an elevator tucked away at the edge of the sprawling facility.  
He swiped his card new UN card and just as he hoped, the panel flashed green.  
They silently made their way down the elevator.  
It was a long trip without a word spoken. 

When the door opened, Shinji could hear them audibly gasp. 

“What the hell is that?” Hojo exclaimed. 

“This is ADAM,” Shinji said breathlessly. This was his first time seeing it in person as well.  
An enormous humanoid figure stood limp in the middle of a huge empty space excavated around it. It was suspended by a web of steel wires and beams. Its skin was a plain sickly gray and had no real discernible features except for a mask of iron that covered its face. The mask was blank, with two dark hollow openings where its eyes would be. An enormous lance the color of blood was pierced through its back, the two prongs sprouting the otherside on its chest. 

“The Geofronts aren’t manmade but nor are they a natural formation,” Shinji said, “they are the result of these beings, Seeds of Life.” 

“Are you saying there’s another one of these back in Japan?” Shokaku said, emptily staring at the behemoth. 

“Yes,” Shinji said, “This one is the father of the Angels, the one in Japan is the father of us, the humans. Or mother…? That’s aside the point though. The point is, that you aren’t just protecting humans from monsters, you’re protecting these from them as well. If the Angels manage to reach any of these Seeds of Life, then it means the end of the world as we know it.” 

“How do you know so much?” Chitose asked, “Who really are you?” 

“This might sound weird but I was a pilot too. I fought these things myself in another alternate dimension. I’ve been brought here to help save your world now.”  
Shokaku looked at him in a wondrous awe, but Chitose seemed less impressed.  
“What so this was supposed to convince us? This is just an ultimatum.” Chitose said. 

“Hey, come on now,” Shokaku said, “they need us…”  
“And you, is that all you can say?” Chitose snapped angrily at him, “That’s all you ever say. You sound like a robot. You’re no better than a damn Eva. Amagi was right you know. You need to think about yourself sometimes. ” 

“Come on, Hojo, tell her,” Shokaku said, “we have to work together here or its literally the end of the world?” 

But Hojo seemed hesitant as well. His gaze was downward, “I don’t know, man, this is still a lot…” 

“I can tell you all I want about the Angels. I can tell you all I want about how I piloted, but when it comes down to it, piloting is your choice,” Shinji said, “When I stepped into the Eva, I had to ask myself over and over why I was doing it. And in the end, my reason was something stupid and regrettable, but that’s what made me get back inside every time. Because if you have a reason, it doesn’t matter if it's scary, or if it's crazy. You people have been piloting for years now, so I think now is the time for you to ask yourselves, really, why do you pilot the Eva? And if you can’t answer it. Then you don’t have to go.” 

The three pilots stood there silently. 

A few stretched seconds that seemed to last an eternity passed before Shokaku spoke up, “I was nothing before this you know.”  
The other two looked over at him, but didn’t say anything. Shokaku continued, “I was a kid with a mom down on her luck, trying to get by. And then eventually it was just me, ready to die,” Shokaku said, “I thought I was nothing. But then these people at the UN found me and said, ‘hey, you can still do great things, kid. You can help people.’ Some nobody starving child off the street. They gave me a chance to be something.”  
Shokaku turned to them now, “That’s why I pilot Eva. Even though for years I thought I was something that could just be discarded without the world noticing, I got a chance and I’m trying to use it to give back whenever I can.”

“Well I had my chances,” Chitose sighed, “I can’t do anything against these Angels. I just embarrass myself when I run into them. And it hurts, and it's scary… I’m not like you...” 

“It’s not about being like me. Come on, Hojo, you think I could have done any of that stuff back there without you? You didn’t freeze up like you thought you would! Because you put yourself out there.”

Hojo gave a nervous chuckle, but still didn’t meet his gaze. 

“Listen to yourselves, you guys aren’t even that scared of fighting the Angels, you’re just scared of letting people down,” Shokaku urged, “but not even trying is the worst thing you can do.”  
“It isn’t,” Chitose said bitterly, “trying over and over again, and still failing is... Do you know how hard I try to keep up with you? To even come close to your harmonics test, and your combat records? I… admire you, you know. But giving it your all and not even coming close is so frustrating. And humiliating. It’s not about letting others down. It’s myself… realizing the limits to your own abilities...” 

Shokaku paused for a moment, “I... didn’t know that’s how you saw things. But if it bothers you that much, then I think you’re really going to regret it if you give up here."  
Chitose just bit her lip.  
"Try one last time. But don’t do it for me, or for anyone else. Try again for you. I believe everyone’s got it in them to do something great, even if they don’t. They just need a chance. You’re not always going to get another.” 

Chitose looked up at him, but Shokaku was emptily staring at ADAM now. 

“Well said, Shokaku,” Shinji nodded, “This needs to be something you want to do. Don’t be like me. Now go report to the briefing room, I’ll be right there with you. And if I see you there, I’ll know what choice you made.” 

He called for the elevator and the three pilots slowly shuffled in. They got one last look at the Seed of Life before the doors slowly closed and they headed back up to destiny. 

***

Shinji heard the hydraulics of the elevator at work and discretely turned back around. A couple moments passed before a figure crept out from behind some control panels. He jumped in surprise when they made eye contact.  
“Oh, Shinji, what’s up,” Toji said, “You’re still here…”  
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you snooping.”  
Toji gave him a crooked smile, “Well, I didn’t want to interrupt the wise Ikari Gendo bestowing his wisdom. You told them about all this?” 

Shinji nodded, “I took his name but I’m not going to be like him. Or like NERV. Those kids have a right to know what they’re fighting for. And a right to choose to fight for it.” 

“Well then did you tell them about the Evas?”  
Shinji grimaced, “well, that being said, I guess some things might be better to leave a secret for now. That’s a tricky subject.” 

They had checked the file. 

Mother deceased. 

For every single pilot. Some were missing both parents. 

“That’s fair enough I suppose,” Toji said, “They might not forgive that.”  
“Right… We still kind of need them on our side,” Shinji said, his mind drifting. 

The two stared at the looming figure in front of them for a few moments. The rhythmic beat of machine and electronics echoed unsettlingly in their ears.

“It’s my first time seeing it,” Shinji spoke up, “ADAM. The cause of all this. Everything. Even back where we’re from.”  
“Same here…” Toji said, "How do you think they avoided Second Impact?"  
"Well, it seems they discovered ADAM around the same time, but only removed the lance 15 years ago... which would be 10 years after Second Impact happened in our world. Guess they were a lot more careful."  
"But they still removed the Lance didn't they?"  
"That was probably enough to wake up the Angels, but Second Impact wasn't caused by removing the Lance alone. It was a contact experiment performed by the Katsuragi Expedition that really agitated Adam."

Shinji had learned a lot about what had actually transpired around him before and during his time as a pilot. Sifting through minds and consciousness in Instrumentality and digging through the ruins of Tokyo-3 and NERV headquarters yielded answers to a lot of questions he had, and to some he never even thought to ask.  
The mention of the contact experiment put a wistful smile on his lips, “Hey, did you meet Kaworu?”  
“Kaworu?” Toji said in surprise, “Here? What do you mean? “  
“No, I mean back where you were from,” Shinji said.  
“Oh, right. Yeah I did meet him,” Toji answered, he looked back at ADAM “ I guess we have technically seen him in a way.”

The body of Adam seemed even more harrowing at the mention of the name. 

"He was a product of that experiment..."  
"So I guess he wouldn't be here in this world," Toji said.  
"Yeah, probably not," Shinji said, "...Did you get along with him?”  
Toji flashed him a glance, “Nah, he seemed like a friendly fellow, but also standoffish? I was closer to Rei at the time and she was weirded out by him which I thought was saying something so I kept my distance. Good thing too I guess.”  
“Haha, yeah…” Shinji nodded. That didn’t really sound like the Kaworu he knew. It was weird, but it made him a little happy that Toji didn’t have the same relationship he had.

“Wait, you were close with Rei?” Shinji asked, an eyebrow raised. It seemed like an unlikely pair.  
“I didn’t really have the time to see my sister or Hikari and Asuka never liked me in the first place. She also kinda went ...crazy? Rei was really all I had,” Toji shrugged, “she’s the one that kind of stuck onto me after you… died.” 

“Right…” 

“Well we should go,” Toji said eyeing his watch and stretching out his arms. He gave one last firm look at ADAM before heading out to the elevator. Shinji also gave it a final glance before following suit. 

***

“Send the signal out,” Amagi said, “remember, this needs to be timed just right to provide maximum time of fire on the Angel. 

“Roger!” 

3…  
2…  
1...

“Mission, Start!”  
Instantly, the control room came alive with activity and clamor. 

“Missile launch confirmed from Francis E. Warren Air Force Base. Wyoming.” 

“Missile launch confirmed from Vandenberg Air Force Base. California.”

“Missile launch confirmed from Missle Base 02101. Amur Oblast.”

“Missile launch confirmed from UN East Branch HQ. Kanagawa.” 

***

Commander Suszutsuki watched intently from his Commander seat in the UN East Branch HQ.

***

“Missile launch confirmed from Launch Complex 80303, Jianshui.

“Missile launch confirmed from UN Combined Pacific Fleet.” 

***

The pilot of Unit 02 bent over railings on the side of the massive aircraft carrier _UNNS Nadia Falls_ as the wail of alarms drowned the air. All around her, were the mechanical whines of destroyer ships and submarines in the Pacific Fleet opening their missile bays and preparing to fire. She covered her ears as the first missile launched with a ferocious roar. More and continued to fire off, a sheet of rockets rising into the sky around her.  
The sight of it made her bristle in anticipation.

***

“Missile launch confirmed from UN South Branch HQ, Java.”

“Missile launch confirmed from IRML Defense Station, Andhra Pradesh”

“Missile launch confirmed…”

Asuka watched in awe as the number of dotted lines on the world map in front of them indicating missile launches continued to grow global. It was truly impressive the resources they had at their disposal. 

“No turning back now,” Amagi said, “how’s the Positron modification coming along?” 

“On schedule, it should be completed within the projected timeline.” 

“Excellent, all that’s left are the pilots…” 

On cue, the door opened, and Shokaku, Hojo, and Chitose stepped into the room. 

#### Once More, With Purpose

Shokaku, Chitose, and Hojo were standing at attention in front of Amagi as Toji and Shinji entered their temporary command room.  
Asuka looked over at them as they took a seat beside her, “had a little date?”  
“Maybe,” Toji said, “jealous?”  
Asuka wrapped around one of Shinji’s arms and shot him a glare.

“Well, do we have a plan?” they heard Shokaku speak up. The three turned over back to the center of the room. 

“You think they’ll do it?” Asuka asked.  
Shinji didn’t respond, just watching to see how it played out. Her question would soon be answered. 

“We do, and you might not like it,” Amagi said, “as you can see, we have missile strikes coming in from all over the world heading toward the Angel now.” 

“That isn’t going to be enough to defeat the Angel is it?” 

“Not even close. This is our distraction. While the Angel is preoccupied, you guys will be delivering the decisive blow using this.”  
A live feed from the hangar popped up on the screen now. One of the huge trucks that had driven in the Evas was swarming with mechanics and technicians. They saw the massive Positron Sniper Rifle being welded onto it, sticking up at a sharp angle at the end of the metal bed. 

“We’re mounting the Positron Sniper Rifle on the bed of an Eva Ground Transport Vehicle. This will require the power of all three Evas.  
One will be the gunner, manning the rifle on top of the vehicle. This vehicle will then be strapped to the other two Evangelions who will pull it out into the open right towards the Angel. Our rifle isn’t going to be strong enough to break its AT field on its own, so once you get into position, all three of you will deploy your AT fields and then the gunner will take the shot.” 

“Holy…” Hojo said. 

“But, my Eva is missing a leg isn’t it…?” Chitose said, “I can’t carry that thing.” 

“That’s right. That’s why you are going to have to be the gunner.” 

Chitose gaped. 

“...How much time will I have to align the shot?” 

“The vehicle will be attached to a steel cord that will make sure you carry the rifle only a set distance. Since we know the distance, we have the firing angle already pre-calculated. You will just need to make a few minor adjustments for factors we can’t predict at the time such as windspeed and imperfections in the ground.  
But that being said, just as the NERV File says, this Angel almost instantly counterattacks any perceived threat that enters with a certain radius of it with extreme precision. Preliminary calculations say you will probably have about 2.14 seconds with an error of plus or minus 2 seconds.”  
“So if we’re lucky we’ll have 4 seconds and if we’re unlucky, then the Angel just annihilates us the second we step out from the base?”  
Amagi nodded.  
“What do we do if it does just that?”  
Amagi just shook her head.  
“...This is quite a pinch we’re in...” 

“that’s why I need you three to be totally onboard with this. I know a lot is at stake here, but I really do care about your wellbeing,” Amagi was speaking to all of them, but her eyes were on Shokaku, “I’ll put it blunt, this could easily turn out to be a suicide mission. So this needs to be something you have to want to do.” 

The three pilots all gave each other a glance. 

Shokaku said firmly, “seems like it's our only shot on beating this thing... I'm in.”  
Hojo sighed, “And I guess this isn’t something you can do alone. I suppose I’ll help out...”  
They turned to Chitose now. She nodded. 

“...I can do it,” she said, “let’s do this.” 

Amagi quietly looked at the three in the eyes. They really were determined to do this, “Then let’s get prep for launch. There’s not a lot of time.” 

Shinji laced his fingers with a satisfied smirk. 

***

Amagi tapped her fingers as the three former pilots from another world took their seats behind her.

Suzuhara Toji. He was quite loud and intimidating, but she had learned he was actually a pretty goofy guy. She hadn’t really gotten a good read on him yet, past his wisecracks. 

Asuka Langley Soryu. She was aggressive. She was straightforward. She spoke her mind. She never asked them directly, but it seems she had quite an intimate relationship with Ikari. Every since the day she had confronted Ikari, Asuka had been pretty icy towards her. But at least she wore her mind on her sleeve. 

Ikari Gendo on the other hand… Or rather Ikari Shinji. He seemed like the meek one. He was quiet and non confrontational, and didn’t do well in front of a crowd. But he was the one she was most wary of. Just the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, the look in his eyes. She could tell he seemed to have the most understanding of the events that were taking place.  
Amagi thought she would have a harder time convincing the pilots with going through with her plans but they seemed oddly motivated. She knew he had a hand in it. First, Shokaku, and now he was getting to the other pilots too.  
In a way, it was good that he was motivating them. Giving them confidence. Convincing them to do the right thing. But there was still something off. It gave her a bad feeling. Like this was just a guise to get them to do what he wanted. Did he really care about these pilots or does he just need someone to kill these Angels for him. Amagi didn’t want a bunch of bloodknight martyrs being manipulated by these people. But right now, what choice did they have but to listen to them.  
Maybe that was her problem with them. They just had too much authority for people they knew so little about. 

“First wave of missiles approaching target! T minus 60 seconds.”  
Amagi was snapped back into the moment, “Right, everyone get ready!” 

Shinji felt Asuka take his hand. He had been rubbing his chest unconsciously again. She gave him a reassuring nod.  
“Hope,” she mouthed.  
Shinji gave her hand a squeeze and looked attentively at the screen. 

“First wave of missiles, T minus 30 seconds!” 

***

The sky was raked with vapor trails as missiles seemed to approach from every direction and altitude, descending upon the fortress Angel in the sky. 

Ramiel let out a chanting scream, accepting the challenge. 

“We’re getting an energy reading!”  
“Here we go,” Amagi said. 

With a brilliant flash of light, Ramiel fired a laser that sliced cleanly through the air, completely annihilating the first of the oncoming projectiles. A streak of explosions ruptured across the sky.  
But through the smoke of the destroyed missiles, more and more rained in. Ramiel continued firing blast after blast in the sky in every direction. 

"Looks like some sick giant disco ball," Toji said under his breath. 

“Don’t let up!” Amagi shouted, “all artillery units, engage! Open fire!” 

“Fourth wave of missiles encroaching,” A technician said. 

“Alright, that’s your cue!” 

*** 

The three Evas waited patiently inside the hangar in position. The rumbling of the battle outside was deafening. Thunderclap after thunderclap shook the air around them. They could hear the radio chatter of the technicians. It was right in their ear, but it felt far and distant in their mind.  
“Voltage is rising. Reaching pressure zone...” 

“Temperatures are remaining stable. Moving condenser level to 2...” 

“Secondary connection good! Activate tertiary convergence connection…” 

“Final connection ready, Positron charge in nominal and green.” 

“Activating Evangelion!” 

Shokaku opened his eyes as the entry plug around him came alive. He calmly put his hands over the control sticks, “ready guys?”  
“As I’ll ever be,” Hojo said shakily. Chitose didn’t answer.

“Disengage final safety locks. Clear the chamber!”  
Chitose cocked the sniper. 

“Go now!” Amagi’s voice cut through. 

Shokaku and Hojo took a heavy and slow first step, lugging the enormous vehicle with the Eva and sniper rifle on top of it. They took another strained step, bogged down by its weight. They grunted from the effort. It was difficult to get going first, but with each step they took, their momentum built and built. Soon they were making a sharp and steady pace down the hangar. 

Hojo watched as they approached the exit of the cave and winced as they took their first step outside in the open. But the only energy that hit him was the piercing rays of the sun. 

“Evangelion Unit has cleared the Hangar!” 

Shokaku looked up to see the massive Angel firing beams of energy in all directions above it. The once clean blue sky was popcorned with explosions as the Angel scorched the air. Smoke and ash polluted his vision, drifting down like snow and fog. 

It was a sight to behold but they didn’t let up the pace. They kept on going until they felt themselves snap back as the cord attached to the vehicle went taut. They made sure to give it a firm tug to make sure it was fully in place before turning to the Angel. 

“In position!” Shokaku yelled.  
Chitose took a small burst of staccato breaths, preparing herself as the computer guiding system made its way over her eyes. 

2 seconds...

“AT Field full power!” Shokaku yelled.  
“AT Field full power!” Hojo shouted with him.  
A shockwave of snow swirled around the two Evas as an aura of power emitted from them. 

“AT Field full power...” Chitose whispered and took one final deep breath and held it in as she aligned the firing sight. She could feel her heart pound in her ear. 

1 second… 

She only had to adjust it a few paces upwards, but that honestly made it harder. She nudged the rifle up and overshot it. She tried to tilt it back down just to overshot it once more.  
She licked her lips, and felt her hands getting shaky. She gripped the control stick until her knuckles were white and flicked it back once more.  
Come on come on. Could she do this? 

0… 

It took all of Amagi’s willpower to stop from yelling “FIRE!” She didn’t want to interrupt her concentration, “take the shot…I believe in you too” she whispered. 

Chitose could see a small twinkle from the Angel, directly aligned with the Evangelion. It was preparing to shoot. She could hear the Angel’s high pitched scream as it charged up its attack.  
She had to do it. She needed to fire.  
She had to do it.  
She needed to do it. 

For a flash, she saw the indicator align.  
_“you’re not always going to get another - ”_  
"Chance…"  
Without hesitation, she squeezed the trigger. 

Ramiel’s blast hit Shokaku who flew backwards with a shout. His Eva snapped back against the harness, roughly tugging on the vehicle that Chitose was on, throwing the sniper completely off alignment  
“No!” Amagi said. 

But Chitose had already fired. Chitose leaned back, getting a fresh gulp of air and feeling her shoulders lax. It was out of her hands. 

The positron rifle fired a brilliant beam of light that speared fast and true towards the giant blue Angel in the sky. 

It broke through its weakened AT field first, the glowing hexagon fracturing like glass. Then Ramiel let out a high pitch scream as it pierced clean through the Angel itself. A fiery explosion ripped from the inside of the Angel as the beam of energy exited out from the opposite side it entered. 

“Direct hit!” 

“Did we get it?!” Hojo shouted, “the core?”  
“No time to see!” Toji shouted at them through the comms, “Take cover!” 

There were at least a few dozen warheads still making its way right towards the surface of the facility, untouched by the Angel. 

“Shokaku, are you alright?” Chitose called over. 

“I’m fine! Get back inside!” He shouted. The blast from the Angel had dazed him and it badly stung, but his adrenaline was pushing him through. He slashed off the steel cord attaching him to the vehicle, “Hojo, grab Chitose!” 

“Way ahead of you, chief!” Hojo had already slashed his harness off and scooped up Chitose off the bed of the vehicle.  
“Oh!” Chitose said in slight surprise.  
“Not this time,” Hojo grunted and heaved the Eva over his shoulder. 

The two scrambled back toward the hangar and dove inside just as the missiles slammed into the ground . A plume of pure fire and force engulfed the facility. They watched as one missile landed right atop the positron rifle, tearing it apart into oblivion. 

They used their arms to shield themselves as a wave of smoke and dust blew into the hangar bay, pushing even the massive Evas a couple feet backwards. 

***

“Do we have a visual?” Amagi shouted, “any reading?”  
All the cameras were now screened by a thick smoke.  
If the missiles made it to the ground, that means the Angel was probably destroyed but Amagi wasn’t taking any chances. 

“Ma’am,” an operator spoke up.  
All the eyes looked towards her as her eyes flickered through the screens. 

“I’ve got vital readings on the Angel at zero... Target destroyed...” 

The whole room went into a frenzy. Shinji saw Asuka leap up from her seat next to him, cheering. There were only 20 or so people in the room, but it sounded like an entire stadium of people just saw their team put in a game winning buzzer beater. He supposed that was actually pretty close to watch just happened. 

***

Chitose slammed her fists on the control sticks in pure excitement, causing her Eva to twist.  
“Woah!” Hojo lost his hold and Unit 04 dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks, “Chitose are you alright?”  
The Eva was lying face down on the floor, but they could hear Chitose still laughing in delight through the comms.

Hojo just chuckled and flipped her back over “Enjoy the fireworks?” he said, looking up outside the hangar as billows of smoke and snow swirled around them as the last few missiles made a thumping impact.

“Hey, Shokaku,” Chitose called, her voice was choked from tears of joy and relief, “Did I get em?” 

The air thinned around them and they could see just make out the Angel crash landed in the snow, flames still flickering where the positron rifle had entered and exited. It lay still and frozen in the ice. 

Shokaku smirked, “Yeah, Chitose, you got em.” 

*** 

Shinji listened to the pilots celebrate their victory.  
He hoped they remembered this feeling because this was still just the beginning. They would need to muster this courage over and over again. He would need them to. Even when it inevitably began to take its toll. 

_“I was projecting all of my dreams, hopes, and purposes onto you. We, everyone, had no choice except to entrust our future to you.”  
“That’s a selfish excuse isn’t it...?” _

It left him with a sick feeling in his stomach but then he felt Asuka grab his shoulders and jostle him around excitedly. Shinji looked around, jarred back into reality. His dazed eyes took all the people around him as they were hugging and dancing. Laughing and singing. Joy and peace. He looked over at his anchor and she flashed him a bright pearly smile. And Shinji couldn’t help but enjoy the moment a little too.  
He felt himself smile back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for reading!  
> Trivia:  
> -Couple fun callbacks in this one. some more subtle than others.  
> -Shesha is the name of the King of Naga and known as one of the primal beings of creation. Thought it was an appropriate name for the Naga Seed of Life. Much like Adam and Lilith, it's name is pretty much as deep as the connection goes.  
> 


	7. Dissonant Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like new pilots to shake things up; The best of the West arrive in Japan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> Also, this is very much is an Evangelion story so I think you know what to expect in terms of some of the themes, tone, and angst lmao. Hope you enjoy

# Episode 7

_August 14th  
1210 JST _

“I don’t know how wise it is to put all our eggs in one basket like this,” Amagi mused 

“Well at least we shouldn’t get any more surprises. And we’ll double our EVA units with the West Eva units here,” the Commander reassured her. 

Captain Amagi and Commander Suzutsuki watched as the UN Combined Pacific Fleet docked into harbor. 

“Six Evas though? And the East pilots seem to have a spectacular boost in confidence after that last fight. I think we might be in a pretty good spot,” Asuka nodded. 

Amagi gave them an amused smile, “well...” 

#### The Mu Coefficient

The pilots of the East were at the docks, here to greet their arriving Western counterparts.  
Although Naga attacked Japan more often, they had a habit of reaching the United States West coast quite frequently as well.  
Shokaku stretched his shoulder and gave a smile and a wave at the reporters and paparazzi. Thankfully they were roped off a good distance away, but he could still hear them clamoring for their attention and a picture. 

The big story of the era was East vs West. Who’s got the better pilots. Who’s got the cooler Evas. Who beats the Naga better. Although it was a hot topic, it was rare for them to ever actually interact, not to mention work together like this. PR always had them give a statement of congratulations every time the other Branch completed a successful operation, but other than that, they hardly even acknowledged each other. It seems this development was generating a lot of press.  
But the reporters weren’t the only restless ones. Shokaku, Chitose, and Hojo perked up as the first figure appeared to step off the boat. 

Jeremiah Russel, pilot of Unit 05 stepped out from the ship.  
“Hello, NIPON!” he shouted in English, throwing his hands in the air, “or should I say, KonnichiWA~!”  
As expected from a foreigner, he was tall. Easily the tallest of the pilots, and his toned body only accentuated that. His Japanese was always quite bad, with his heavy deep southern accent making even his English difficult to understand to the East. But to be fair, Hojo’s and Chitose’s English was about as bad as his Japanese.  
Shokaku always likened him to a dog, but in the most complimentary way possible. Although there was a communication barrier, he didn’t even know any Japanese the first time he had met him, he instantly took a liking to him. He just exuberated an almost excessive amount of loyalty and positivity no matter what. 

“How are you doing?” he bellowed, wrapping Hojo in a hug.  
“Oh, just dandy,” Hojo said, he switched to English, “I. Am. Good!”  
“Excellent!” Jeremiah gave a big thumbs up. He went around and bearhugged Shokaku and even Chitose too, making sure no one was left out, “You did good in Antarctica!”  
“Why, thank you…” Chitose gasped. 

Nicole Maury, pilot of Unit 06 stepped out from the ship, carrying a few two many bags of luggage.  
She was a petite girl with wavy brunette hair. It was funny that though Jeremiah would stand as the tallest pilot, Maury would fill the role as the shortest. And she had a meek attitude to match. Shokaku has tried to hold a conversation with her the few times they met, but every attempt had fallen flat. He was pretty certain she was straight up afraid of him. 

Amelia Ranger, Pilot of Unit 02, stepped out from the ship, right behind her, sporting a pair of aviator shades. The star of the show. The other two pilots simply wore casual clothes, but Ranger was proudly dressed in her US UN uniform. She could have been wearing anything, but the aura of confidence and authority she carried would not have changed. 

“Did you grab my coffee from the desk like I asked?” she called down.  
Maury’s eyes widened, “No I totally forgot…”  
“Well then go ahead and get it,” Ranger said, jerking her head back.  
“Right…” Maury said. She awkwardly tried to shuffle around with the many backpacks strapped around her shoulder and tugging at the rolling luggage.  
“Just leave that stuff here for now.”  
Maury placed all the bags down and hurriedly returned back into the ship. 

Ranger stepped down and turned her attention to the pilots of the East, removing her sunglasses, “Well, well, I guess I should say long time no see.” She was looking right at Shokaku. 

If East vs West was the topic of the era, then the face of it was Shokaku vs Ranger, the first of the Eva pilots. A common imagery the public likened them to was the tiger and the dragon, but Shokaku thought the mongoose and the snake was more appropriate. 

“Hi, Ranger…” Chitose said in a monotone.  
“How’s the leg?” Ranger grinned venomously.  
Chitose felt her eye twitch.  
“But credit where it’s due, I read the mission report. That was a nice shot. Be sure to pass my compliments to the computer guiding systems.”  
Chitose let out a deep exhale through her nose. She only had the displeasure of meeting Ranger a couple of times and she had learned to just keep her mouth shut. 

“Our distinguished and clear cut, number TWO pilot gracing us with her presence,” Hojo said, “as despicable as ever, I see.” 

“Ho~?” Ranger sneered, “This is new, since when did you get a backbone, Third Child? You think you’re the new hotness since you beat a couple Angels?” 

Hojo crossed his arms, but before he could say anything, Shokaku stepped in.  
“Hey enough of that, we’re not supposed to cause a scene” Shokaku said, putting an restraining arm up against Hojo’s chest. “You never change do you, Ranger.” 

“Neither do you,” Ranger gloated, “3 years ago, Naga got to the walls of Hakone and they had to build more Evas and recruit more of these mooks because you needed help. Now this giant hole in your wall has caused quite a buzz, you know. Guess the East just has a knack for not being able to handle things.” 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You haven’t fought an Angel…” Chitose whispered.  
“Irrelevant,” Ranger brushed off, “My AT field scores and simulation battles have already passed the two of you. And my synchro and harmonic scores have always been higher. Once I clean up a couple Angels, I’ll be back at number one.” She looked at Shokaku in the eye. 

“I think you’re in for a surprise,” Shokaku said, “this isn’t like the Naga. This is dangerous…”

“If you’re skilled like me, then it doesn’t have to be ‘dangerous” She smiled, “I can probably take on all the Angels by myself.” 

“Are we having good time?” Russell said looking around with a smile. He clearly wasn’t following the conversation, but he could tell things were getting tense. 

Maury shuffled up behind her, back with her cup of coffee. 

“I look forward to working with you guys,” she grinned and turned her attention to the crowd of reporters and the increasing number of camera flashes. 

“I look forward to it too!” Russell said, pumping his fists.

***  
Shokaku returned back to his living quarters with a sigh. 

It had been a long day of press conferences and interviews. And they had barely gotten back from Antarctica. He felt like he was going to straight up collapse as he wobbled to his front door. However, he perked up when he saw Ikari Gendo and Asuka Langley Soryu waiting for him out in the hall. 

“Oh, hello,” he said, “do you need something?” 

“Pack a few bags,” Shinji said, “You’re going to be staying at our place for a little while.”  
Shokaku was surprised at first, but it soon turned to excitement, “alright, sure!”  
All his exhaustion evaporated for a moment as he he quickly rushed inside and stuffed a couple duffel bags with his things. He followed them to a UN issued car where they took off. 

“Long day?” Asuka asked him from behind the wheel. Shinji had done most of the driving in their days after Instrumentality, but Asuka had surpassed him in driving time and experience after she got her consulting job. 

Shokaku was sitting quietly in the back seat, nodding off at the relaxing cruise, he snapped back to at the question, “Oh yeah, but I’m used to it.” 

“You did a great job with those last two Angels,” Shinji said from the passenger seat, “you took that hit from Ramiel like a champ.”  
“Why thank you, sir,” Shokaku beamed.  
“You’re a good leader too,” Shinji said, “better than our supposed leader was.”  
Asuka gave his shoulder a sharp slap, “hey, wait a minute, did you tell them we were pilots?”  
Shinji shrugged, “didn’t seem like something we needed to hide.” 

“Speaking about that,” Shokaku said, leaning forward, “I have so many questions.”  
“Oh, please, there’s no way you don’t know more than we do,” Shinji said, “You’ve been piloting much longer than we ever had.” 

“But, but you guys seem to know so much,” Shokaku said. 

Shinji stared out the car window, “Really. We had no clue what we were doing.” 

They exited the tunnel out from the Geofront and back to the open world of the surface. 

*** 

“So that’s Suzu’s room across the hall there, and this is our room,” Asuka said, giving their door a pat.  
“So, I’m going to be living with you guys?”  
“No, no, you… will be staying right next door here,” she pulled out a key and stepped to the next room and turned the lock. 

“Welcome to your temporary stay,” Asuka announced, swinging open the door. 

Amelia Ranger looked over from the small kitchen, jaw on the floor. She was dressed in bright pink pajamas with cutesy cartoon animal prints. She had in her hand a warm glass of milk.  
Asuka, Shinji, Shokaku simply looked back at her. 

Ranger cleared her throat and gently put down the glass of milk on the counter and shuffled away towards the bedroom. 

She emerged not long after, now fully dressed in her UN uniform. It was actually quite impressive that she was able to change so quickly.  
“What are you doing in my studio?” Ranger asked furiously.  
“What was that you were wearing?” Shokaku said, his face contorted in a laugh.  
“Shut the hell up!” Ranger snapped, “You didn’t see anything.”  
“Okay, but for real, why is Ranger here?” Shokaku asked with a feeling of dread creeping in his stomach. 

“You two are going to be living together for a while!” 

Shokaku’s bags and jaw dropped to the floor. 

“What! But, but, I’m a girl and he’s a guy!” Ranger said, “what if he... does... something to me.”  
“Uhm, who the hell do you take me for?” Shokaku snapped back, “and like I would want to do anything with you.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Come on, come on, you guys are adults here, I’m sure you can restrain yourself,” Asuka snickered, “or not? Maybe it’s because you are adults you might… we could go get you some protection…?”  
“As if!” they shouted in unison  
“Look at this, it’s already working,” Asuka smiled. 

“No, no, no, we for real have no chemistry here,” Shokaku said.  
“Yeah, yeah, exactly what I was thinking… or not thinking?” Ranger frowned, “I feel if I agree with you, that kind of proves their point…” 

“Well, if you don’t have chemistry then that’s exactly why you need to start living together,” Shinji said, raising a stern finger, “in these next few battles, we are going to need cooperation and synergy, which is very apparent you are lacking. This next Angel in particular is going to require an extreme level of coordination.” 

“I can handle it myself just fine!” Ranger insisted.  
“Did you even read the Nerv File?” Shokaku sighed, “I should have seen this coming… the next one needs a team attack...”  
“I have Maury!” Ranger said, “I can just do it with her.”  
“Nope, it might pain you to admit it, but Shokaku here has got the field experience and he’s got the synchro rate. Even higher than yours might I remind you.”  
“Tch, I passed him for a while a couple months back...”  
“Even then, he’d still be clearly second place. Highest chance of our next operation being a success is if you two pilot it and get it together.” 

“So how do we practice this team attack? Why do we need to live together?” 

Asuka gave a foxy grin and looked back at Shinji, “what do you say Ikari, shall we give a little demonstration? Do you still remember?” 

Shinji gave her a sorrowful look, “do we have to? Right now?” 

“Come on it’ll be fun.” 

Asuka and Shinji went over to their room and brought in the synchro training system they had requested to be made from the UN. They laid out a mat full of blinking spots and stood over it at attention. She handed Shinji a pair of the headphones. Shinji tried to give her puppy dog eyes in a last ditch effort, but Asuka had her mind set. He reluctantly took it and they fitted it over their ears. 

Simultaneously, they took a deep breath. At the green light, they began going through the motions once again. Shinji thought there would be no way he would remember enough, but it was coming back to him quite clearly, like riding a bike. Tone after tone, the two moved.  
One mind, one body, one moment.  
They almost made it perfectly throughout the entire program until the very end, where Shinji stuck out his right foot to the bottom right corner spot and Asuka stuck her left foot to the left corner.  
The machine buzzed and flashed a red light. 

“Ah, no we were so close! Shin… Ikari, we changed it to a left step, remember?” Asuka waved her fist at him.  
Shinji gave a smile, averting his gaze, “well, I remember now.”  
He actually didn’t. He could have sworn they did for a while but changed it back, but he knew from this very experience 10 years ago this wasn’t something she’d back down on.

“This is how you guys trained to beat the Angel?” Shokaku asked.  
“Yep! It’ll be fun! We beat the Angel handily. And look how we turned out.” Asuka said.  
“What, married?” Ranger asked.  
Asuka looked over at Shinji with an eyebrow raised, passing the ball in his court.  
“Uhm… basically?”  
Asuka hooked her arm around his neck in a headlock and playfully shook him around, “what are you saying!” she laughed giddily.  
“Ow, Asuka, that hurts!” 

Ranger and Shokaku watched and slowly gave each other a glance. She feigned a gag and Shokaku couldn’t help but snicker. 

“Since you’re living together, you get all day to practice. No excuses. We’re right next door and we’ll be checking up on you to make sure things are going smoothly.” 

“What ever happened to Captain Amagi?” Ranger asked. 

“She’s going to be busy for a while. We will be supervising you in the meantime So behave will you?” 

“Roger...” Shokaku said, forcing on a smile.  
Ranger clicked her tongue with a pout. 

*** 

Shinji closed the door behind him, leaving the two new pilots to their new home, “they remind me of us, you know.”  
“Their situation is very similar,” Asuka nodded.  
“More than just that,” Shinji said, “that Ranger girl is just like how you used to be back then.”  
“What,” Asuka said incredulously, “she’s an aggressive foreign girl, but that’s as far as I can see.”  
Muffled through the door, they heard shouting start up again.  
“Are you an idiot?! Of course we’re not actually sleeping in the same room…” 

Shokaku gave Asuka a knowing vindictive look.  
“Oh, shut up.” 

Shinji unlocked the door again and poked his head inside, “same room! That’s an order.” 

Amelia Ranger groaned, “but you’re sleeping on the floor!” 

***

On the first day, Amelia Ranger woke up and rolled over to find the futon Shokaku was sleeping in beside her was already empty. He had gotten up with breakfast made for the both of them.  
He meant it as a peace offering, a clean and friendly start, but Ranger gave him a look through narrow eyes as she accepted the meal. 

“Would you like tea with that?” Shokaku asked.  
“I’m more a coffee person,” she said.  
“Fair enough.”  
Shokaku took his seat and an awkward silence joined them at the table as well. Ranger scrolled through her phone, barely even taking her eyes off when she took a bite of her food. Shokaku lazily ate and watched intently. 

“What are you looking at?” 

“Analytics,” she said without looking up, “I thought it was going to be hard to keep up in a different timezone, but I think I can manage.”  
“You mean social media?” 

“Yep, your image is everything.” 

He nodded, “I suppose.” 

“I’m not sure you’d know. You don’t really use social media that much, do you,” she said. She would know since she was monitoring everything all the time. He had accounts but never really used it unless PR asked him to or if there was some promotional event. “Do you even use your phone much at all?” 

Shokaku pulled his phone out and gave it a look over, “No, Hojo likes to bug me on it, and I have a couple games, but that’s really it. His phone buzzed, and sure enough it was text from Hojo.  
“How’s the married life?”  
Shokaku just gave the text a tired look. He would respond to it later. 

“I’m envious,” he heard Ranger say. He looked, but she was already on her feet, returning the empty plate to the sink, “hurry up, let’s get practicing.” 

And so they began on their attack pattern. It was a rocky start, but they were making it work.  
Shokaku hated to admit it, but Ranger really backed up that mouth of hers. It was almost annoying how hard she worked.  
Whenever he found himself taking a break and relaxing, he would look over and see her practicing or reading up on the Nerv File. It actually was quite feuling in a spiteful rivalry kind of way. For the first time, Shokaku felt truly motivated to prepare for this next Angel attack. 

“Is sleep the only time you ever relax?” Shokaku asked as they prepared for bed.

“We don’t know when this next Angel will come. We have to be sure we’re ready to eliminate it without error,” she said.  
“Well, I guess you’re right there,” Shokaku said. He stared at the ceiling watching the soft glow emitting from Ranger’s phone in the corner of his eye. She scrolled through it for a good while before she finally put it aside and fell asleep.  
It seems not even in bed was a place of comfort for her. 

***

The next morning, Shokaku woke up to see Ranger was already out of bed. He got to the dining table and looked down as she put a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.  
He looked up and gave her a crooked smile, “thanks.” 

In the afternoon, Asuka and Shinji observed a few rounds of them going at the synchro machine to see how they were doing. They still had ways to go, but they nodded in approval at their progress.  
Shinji had prepared lunch for the four and they sat down to eat. 

“It seems you’ve got the basic moves already, but that’s the easy part. You need to really be in sync with each other now.” 

They both gave a grimace. 

“You know you guys, the point of this experience is not just to learn the routine. You need to learn to get along more too,” Asuka said, “your attitude is the key here. It could be detrimental on the battlefield.” 

“We’ve known each other for five years, if there’s any good traits about this bozo, I think I would have at least seen it,” Ranger said.  
“We hardly even see each other!” Shokaku interjected, he looked over at them, “do you see this? she doesn’t even give me a chance!” 

“Then let’s open up a chance. How about we say something… good, about the other,” Asuka offered, “See with Shinji, he’s very reserved, and meek, and non confrontational, and way too apologetic, and plain, but…” she paused for a second looking over at him. Shinji gave her a dull look, after the pause stretched a few seconds too long, “he’s… kind? It’s hard to put into words...”  
“Wow, my heart is fluttering,” Shinji said. 

“Whatever, you two try it,” Asuka said looking back at them. 

“I guess she works hard,” Shokaku said, rolling his eyes.  
“He has good synchro scores,” Ranger said flatly.  
“That has nothing to do with me as a person!”  
“Well it’s all I can think of! And it’s not like yours was any better!” 

Asuka and Shinji watched as they dissolved into another wave of bickering, “oh boy.” 

*** 

The next day Shokaku woke up even earlier. He found some pleasure in hearing Ranger roughly shuffle out of bed and storm outside at sound of the toaster ringing,  
Shokaku gave her the most insincere smile he could as he put down the plate of toast and jam in front of her. Somehow, Ranger gave him one even less sincere. 

Another day of practice. They made a simple lunch together and Asuka brought them some takeout for dinner. 

***

The next morning, Ranger made sure to wake up at 4:30am. She made breakfast and waited for Shokaku to step out. The look on his face would give her more nourishment than the breakfast itself.  
But Shokaku decided to sleep in that day.  
She gave it an hour before she lost her patience and stormed into the room. Ranger roughly shook him awake  
“What? Why are you awake so early?” he asked coyly, gently yawning.  
“I’m gonna slap you.”  
“Okay okay, you know what, this is stupid,” Shokaku said, “I’ll let you wake up first and make breakfast. Is 7:30 meal time alright.”  
“That’s just perfect,” Ranger spat joyously and exited the room.  
Shokaku waited a few moments before discreetly pulling out his phone and sent Hojo a text: worked like a charm.  
Ranger walked back out to reheat the breakfast with a grin of victory. But as the microwave beeped, she gave a small gasp when she realized she had just been duped into making him breakfast every morning.  
“Oh, son of a bitch.” 

***

Shinji heard a couple of firm knocks on his door. As he opened it, he was expecting to see some buff UN guards or something, but instead he was greeted with the two young pilots. One with her arms crossed and drumming her foot, the other with his hands on his hips and an exasperated sigh on his face. 

“What is it this time?” Shinji said. 

It became a sort of routine. Shinji would be sitting down enjoying the day, or working on the NERV File when a flurry of knocking would perk him up. Sometimes, it happened multiple times a day.  
“Asuka, it’s your turn,” Shinji called over his shoulder as he tried to enjoy his book.  
“I’m drying my hair.”  
There was another flurry of knocking at the door. Shinji closed his book, “ugh.” 

When ever they brought them food and joined them for dinner, it would start off pleasant enough but more often than not it would devolve back into the same old pattern. 

“Sounds like a real hassle,” Toji said taking a bite of the curry that Shinji had prepared. He had joined them for dinner this time around at their place, “do you think a few rounds of couple therapy would do them good?”  
“Trust us, we’ve sat them down a plenty,” Asuka said shaking her head, “it’s oil and water.”  
“Reminds me a lot of you two,” Toji smirked.  
“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Shinji said.  
“We weren’t that insufferable,” Asuka jeered. She paused for a moment, “were we?”  
Toji just shot her a glance, “Guess this stuff is easier to see from the outside.”  
Shinji and Asuka let out a weighted sigh.  
“Well, don’t you guys have any advice for the two? If you’re so similar?”  
“It’s the same, yet different,” Shinji said.  
“Maybe so, but I’m sure you could at least point them in the right direction. Try a little one on one maybe. Split them up a bit. They might be more open if it's a private conversation.”  
The two gave each other a glance. It wasn’t a half bad idea. 

***

“Coming,” a voice called. 

Shokaku opened the door and looked surprised at the sudden visit, “How can we help you?”  
Ranger’s head popped from the living room, “It’s a bit early for dinner, no?” 

“Shokaku, come with me,” Shinji said and he guided the curious pilot back to his room. Asuka stepped into their studio and closed the door behind her. 

“Listen, well. How do I say this,” Asuka said, “it doesn’t seem like things are going great with Shokaku.” 

“What?” Ranger said, “we got our first perfect score on the attack pattern yesterday.” 

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. Intrapersonally. Relationshipwise. You guys haven’t progressed at all.” 

“What do you want us to do? Go out?” 

“No, but it’s only beneficial that you at least get along with him.” 

“There’s nothing to like about that jerk,” she shrugged. 

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating,” Asuka said.

“He has it so easy, and he doesn’t even know it,” Ranger spat, “he has no idea what I have to go through.”  
“Well have you told him?” she asked. 

“Well… I…” she started. 

“It’s hard, isn’t it,” Asuka said, “Now I don’t know what you’ve been through either, but if you’re anything like me, you’ve got a lot to prove. But try and let your guard down a bit is the advice I would give. You might be pleasantly surprised.”  
Ranger bit her lip, “but I don’t want them to see me as, you know… weak.” 

“I couldn’t really say it in front of him, but that’s how it was with me and Shi- Ikari. You have all these worries about your worth, and you put up these walls, but once you finally start showing the chinks, I think you’ll be relieved to see that no one really pokes at them. Because we’ve all got them, we all have troubles,” Asuka said, “If anything, Shokaku is probably the one that will understand you the most as an Eva pilot. I’m sure he’s got his own share of issues. 

“Really?” 

A mischievous grin formed on Asuka’s face, “Here, I’ll show you.” 

***

“The word we use for ‘she’ literally means ‘the woman far away.’ To us, women will always be on the distant shore,” Shinji said with a stern finger.  
Shokaku looked at him with a blank stare.  
Shinji stared back at him with a face just as blank. 

“I don’t understand.”  
Shinji sighed, “I thought it’d be easier to understand myself when I got older. Maybe that’s the point.” 

“How was your advice for getting us to pilot the Evas to fight deadly monsters more sound than this.”  
“There’s a river dividing men and women, deeper and wider than any ocean…” Shinji said gravely.  
“What are you trying to tell me here.” 

“I guess the only advice I can give for dealing with Ranger is to not take everything she says so personally,” Shinji said, “that’s kind of how I dealt with Asuka at least.” 

“But she says the meanest things?” 

“It will be hard, but when you push back, it only drives you farther apart. Play along with it. And try to understand the person Amelia Ranger.” 

Shokaku mused for a second, “alright I guess.” 

Shinji’s ear twitched. He got to his feet and tiptoed to the front door, “see, I think Asuka gave Ranger similar advice, they’re already starting to try and understand us.”  
He ripped open the door, revealing Asuka and Ranger, crouched down, ear still up to where the door had been, “ah.” 

*** 

Amelia wore sweatpants and a long sleeve to bed for the past couple of days, but that night, she stepped out of the shower reverted back to those neon pink pajamas with animal prints she had on her first day. Shokaku gave a double take as he was about to go take his turn with the bath.  
“They are comfortable okay,” she snapped before Shokaku could say anything, still drying her hair, “they’re fuzzy and warm and I like them.”  
Shokaku took one of her hands by the wrist and began feeling the material on her sleeve, “hmmmm, these are pretty soft…” he looked up and was surprised to see Amelia staring back a bit flustered. He couldn’t tell if her face was flushed from the hot shower or not.  
“The pajamas of course…” he said, letting go of her hand  
“Just let go of me, you creep. Do I need to shower again?”  
Shokaku felt his temper flare again, but remembered Mr.Ikari’s advice.  
Instead, he laughed, “that’s a bit over the top don’t you think? You already use too much of the soap.”  
Ranger looked at him as if he was speaking another language. Shokaku cringed inside, but much to his surprise and relief, Ranger face broke out into a chortle, “whatever. If anything, you’re the one that needs a shower right now, hurry, hurry,” she said, shooing him into the bathroom  
“Right, right,” Shokaku said. Before he closed the door behind him, he stopped and called over to her, “Wear whatever you want, Ranger. As long as it doesn't get in the way of our practice. I already know you’re an amazing pilot, so you have nothing to prove to me,” and with that, he snapped the door close, not giving her anytime to respond. 

Ranger blinked , taken slightly aback, she replied to the floor instead, “Right…” 

***

This was the new pattern he found himself in.  
Before this, whenever they would meet, all that ever came up was piloting and Eva, and so her jabs would come off as insensitive and provocative. But now that their time was filled with more mundane interactions, Shokaku realized she just made jabs at everything. And she didn’t even mean that much harm from it. In fact, it was just her throwing herself out there as well.  
Whenever Shokaku would retort and think he went too far, Amelia would just laugh herself.  
“Good one,” she’d say. 

Shokaku couldn’t even remember if he had ever seen her laugh before this. 

It was… pleasant. 

She was more talkative now too. She asked him about his hobbies, his opinion on things. They were actually starting to converse. Apparently, she was really into anime and pop songs. He never would have guessed. 

The next day, they went in to HQ for a harmonics test. Hojo leaned in and whispered, “losing your mind yet with her?”  
Shokaku was almost stunned when he realized he actually had nothing really bad to say about the experience anymore. That’s not to say they didn’t bicker occasionally still, but their bouts tended to be less nasty and more brief. 

Shinji was surprised that he didn’t hear a single knock at his door after they had their talk. 

***  
That night, Ranger and Shokaku returned home and went over the training program one last time. They had it completely mastered now and the two looked over at each other slightly out of breath and with a grin as they got their 5th perfect score in a row. 

***

“What are you doing?” Ranger asked, taking a seat on the couch. She had just stepped out of the shower. 

“Well now that we’ve got the routine down, I finally have time to take it easy, without you pressuring me” he said. He was hooking up an old retro game console to the television. 

“Yeah yeah,” Amelia said. She eyed the console he was hooking up, “You still have that old thing?” 

“Oh, you remember?” Shokaku said, his face was stuck behind the televisions, trying to figure out the ports, “well I do have a newer system too, but this is more portable. Plus, it used to be Amagi’s, but she told me I could keep it, so I try to keep it maintained. 

When Amelia had debuted as a pilot, she had visited Japan for some publicity and exposure. She was only 14 at the time and so she had stayed with the newly minted Shokaku and Amagi, his guardian at the time. 

She was way different back then. A wide eyed, reserved, middle schooler. The first day of her visit, they quietly passed what little free time on their own, but eventually, Shokaku brought her over to the console and pulled out his favorite game at the time.

“Oh man, yeah, here it is, Beast Brawlers 3!” Amelia said 

Shokaku stuck his head out and saw that she was crouched on the floor right next to him, shuffling through the stack of games he had brought. 

She smiled, “this brings me back, I would say this was the true start to our rivalry. I couldn’t take a single round off you the first time we played.”  
Shokaku smirked, “I made the mistake of teaching you. You almost caught up to me the weekend you were here.” 

Ranger smiled fondly at the game case. 

“You think you still got it?” Shokaku asked with an eyebrow raised, he plugged in one last wire and the TV flickered to life.  
“Oh, you’re on.”  
It was probably the most Shokaku had played it in years and maybe the most fun he’s had with it ever. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ranger’s phone way over at the dinner table, turned over and unattended. 

***

“Good night, Ranger,” Shokaku said, as they retired to bed. 

“We don’t use surnames in the West.”  
“What?” Shokaku asked.  
“I said we don’t use surnames in the West, just call me, Amelia,” she said, “And I’ll call you Shinji...”  
“Oh… uhm… okay, good night, Amelia.”  
Amelia smiled and closed her eyes, “ good night, baka Shinji.” 

#### Dissonant Harmony

The next day, Asuka and Shinji came over to watch their perfected routine.  
Asuka and Shinji took it upon themselves to invite the rest of the pilots to come and watch as well. They gathered around in the living room and watched the two go at it. 

A perfect score flashed up on the screen and the room gave an round of applause.  
“Magnificent” Jeremiah cheered. 

“Well, if you’ve already got it down, maybe we can move to practicing in the actual Eva if they don’t show up soon,” Asuka suggested. 

“Would be fine with me,” Shokaku said, looking over at Ranger.  
“Yeah, can’t be too careful,” she said. 

“Shall we eat then? I’m starving,” Asuka looked back to the food they had brewing in the slow cooker.  
“It should be ready by now,” Shinji said, getting up and checking on the stew. He began to serve the food as the party made its way to the dining table. 

Amelia followed Shokaku over but paused when he went to sit between Chitose and Hojo. 

“Such chemistry!” Hojo lauded.  
“Oh shut up,” Shokaku laughed, “call me crazy, but Amelia, isn’t really all that bad once you get to know her.”  
“Amelia!?” Hojo said, “first name? Not so bad? Dear god what happened here, did she brainwash you?”  
“I’m serious,” Shokaku said, giving him a playful push, "you know, all of these guys from the West are totally fine. I guess we shouldn't trust the internet so much. They made it seem like they hated us or something."  
"I guess I'd have to agree with you there," Hojo shrugged.  
Shokaku turned to Chitose, “Anyways, I haven’t even had time to ask, but any updates on Unit 04?”  
“I just checked today actually, it looks like they have the new leg attached, but it still needs to set. I think another 2 days until its operational?”  
“That’s good, that’s good!” Shokaku laughed.  
Amelia watched the three merrily chat for a moment before she took her own seat at the other end of the table. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask, but where has Captain Amagi been?” Shokaku asked. 

“I invited her of course, but she probably won’t come,” Asuka annoyingly eyed the ceiling. 

“She’s been busy with other things,” Shinji said. 

“How busy can she actually be?” 

*** 

“ADAM has just been secured, it’ll still take a couple more days to install final securements,” Amagi said. 

It was enough hassle finding a place for ADAM but adding SHESHA into the mix was making the logistics of this extremely difficult. 

“Good, very good,” Suzutsuki said, “I believe these next few days are going to be quite interesting.” 

Amagi turned when she heard the door to his office open. A young adolescent boy with his mother stepped into the room. The guard who had escorted them took a bow and stepped away. 

“Grandpa!” the boy shouted and rushed over to him.  
“Hey! You’re here!” the Commander said warmly. He got off from his chair and bent down as the boy tackled into him with a hug.  
“He’s an old man now, be careful,” the mother called.  
“Please, not that old,” Suzutsuki chuckled. He looked over at Amagi, “this is my daughter Yumi and grandson Kioshi, you remember them, right?” 

Amagi nodded. They visited every so often to get a nice insider tour of the facility. 

“Let’s go see the tanks, the tanks!” the boy cheered. 

“Alright, alright its getting late, so let’s hurry,” Suzutsuki said, “Speaking of which, Amagi you’re dismissed for the day.” 

Amagi frowned, “dismissed? but there’s still a ton to do…” 

“Oh nonsense,” Suzutsuki said, “We can leave the rest to the others, I’m sure I hired a competent enough staff to handle that much. Go and relax for a bit. You’ve earned it.” 

Amagi smiled, “as if I could…” she said under her breath. 

“Don’t you have someone you could spend some time with?” 

“Oh, I’m single, actually,” Amagi said. 

“It’s because you work so much,” Suzutsuki said solemnly shaking his head, “I’m sure you could find someone quite easily.” 

“I could introduce you to a friend of mine. He’s a doctor…” Yumi said warmly. 

Amagi gave her a smile, “Oh, thank you, that’s, uh very kind, but I’m good really…” 

“Captain, you do important work for many people, but you can’t neglect yourself,” the Commander smiled, “You remind your pilots about that all the time, but maybe they don’t listen because they see you don’t do it either.”  
“I tell them that, because I know that I’m like this…”  
“Well you did practically raise the three,” Suzutsuki said, “the apple does not fall far from the tree, so the expression goes. Go rest. Practice what you preach for once.” 

As she walked out the office, Amagi checked her phone and saw a text message from Soryu. Seems the pilots were making good progress on their preparations for the next Angel and they were all having dinner at their place.  
The message wasn’t even sent that long ago, they were probably eating now. She sighed. 

***

“Are you kidding me? Aren’t you too good at this?” Hojo exclaimed.  
“Watashi wa… kami,” Jeremiah said with a wicked smile in his broken Japanese. 

“KO” the announcer of the game shouted. 

Hojo fell over to his side clutching his chest, “That character is overpowered, I’m telling you!” 

The score was now 1-1. The pilots had taken up a friendly showdown in Beast Brawlers 3. Shokaku had squeaked out a win against Ranger in the first round scoring for the East and now Russell had just put the West on the board. 

“I didn’t want it to come to this,” Shokaku shook his head, putting a hand on the shoulder of the pilot of Unit 04, “Chitose, do us proud.”  
“Do I really have to?” Chitose asked. She wasn’t really into video games at all.  
“For the honor of the East,” Hojo and Shokaku said in unison, giving her a sardonic bow. 

Chitose scoffed and took the controller and sat next to an equally unconfident looking Maury. 

“Nicole, if you lose here, you’re going to cover our bets,” Amelia called over. Maury seemed to pale. 

The two awkwardly selected a character and began playing. They were by far the weakest players, but that just made their gameplay unpredictable. That combined with the fact this was the tiebreaker somehow made it even more exciting. 

Shinji and Asuka watched from afar, still at the dinner table.  
“They sure are noisy, aren’t they,” Asuka said, taking a sip of her wine.  
The blaring video game sound effects were cacophonic and the shouting and cheering was rambunctious.  
“You're right, but I sort of don’t mind all that much…” Shinji said, surprising himself. Shinji always had a low tolerance for noise.  
“Oh god, is this what a family is supposed to be like?” Asuka said suddenly, her eyes a bit wide in disbelief.  
Shinji looked over at her, the epiphany dawning on him.  
“I guess we wouldn’t know,” Shinji said, turning to the young pilots. 

“It’s not so bad, you know” Asuka said.  
Shinji looked back over at her again, to see if she was really insinuating what he thought she was.  
“Here, I mean,” she quickly added, “it’s not so bad here. In this world. I think it sure as hell beats where we’re from.  
They glanced around at the apartment and it was certainly a far cry to where they had lived. Glistening appliances, full fridge, decor, clean painted walls, “it kind of makes me not want to go back.” 

“I’ve been thinking about that you know,” Shinji said, “What do you think is going to happen if we beat all the Angels? Can we even go back if we wanted to?”  
“IF we can beat all the Angels,” Asuka reminded him, “let’s get there when we get there. We've run into a lot of surprises.” 

“I just can’t help but worry about it is all…” Shinji said. 

Asuka leaned in and she gently gave him a kiss on the cheek, “You were never good at just enjoying the moment,” she whispered.  
Shinji smiled and pulled her closer, “Well, why don’t you keep reminding me?”  
Asuka leaned her head on his shoulder and they felt each other's warmth and each other's hearts. 

“KO!”  
There was a new eruption of cheers as Chitose leapt up into the air in victory and Maury fell forward on her hands and knees. Shokaku and Hojo ran over to her excitedly. 

“You almost had em,” Jeremiah said.  
“Maury, all you needed to do was kick there!” Amelia shouted. 

“I really didn’t know what I was doing,” Chitose laughed.  
“No, no, you got potential,” Hojo said, in the third round you actually got a pretty crazy tech.”  
“I mean, I guess,” she said bashfully.  
“We should play more the next time we get a day off,” Shokaku said, “I can train you.”  
“I don’t know if I’d want to get that into it,” Chitose said, putting her hands up, “this is a one time thing.  
“It’ll be fun, it’ll be fun!” 

Amelia blinked. 

“What do you say, another round?” Hojo asked, turning to the West, “I need my rematch.”  
“You’re on!” Jeremiah said, “Double. Or. NOTHING.” 

“Ho ho!” Hojo said and the two quickly picked up the controllers. 

“What about you, Amelia,” Shokaku said, “do we need a rematch?”  
Amelia gave him a smile, “no, I’m pretty tired actually. It’s my loss, but you better watch out next time.”  
Shokaku smirked, “yeah, right.” He turned back to watch as Hojo and Jeremiah started their match with a frown now on his face. It seemed oddly out of character of her to resign in such a way.  
Behind him, Ranger plopped onto the couch by herself and pulled out her phone. 

*******

A 14 year old Suzuhara Toji was lying on the roof of the hospital building gazing up at the night sky. He heard the clicking as the rooftop door opened behind him. He craned his neck to see who it was.  
“Oh, Ayanami. What’s up,” Toji murmured. He turned back up to the glistening stars in the sky. 

She shuffled across the roof and stopped a few paces behind him. didn’t say anything for a moment, but then she spoke up in that soft voice of hers, “Earlier, before all this, you said that Ikari-kun was the one I cared about. How did you know?” 

Toji let out a breath. It was half a heavy sigh, half a hearty chuckle, “things are easier to see when it’s gone, huh?” 

Rei didn’t say anything. 

“It’s also easier to see from the outside a lot of the time, don’t be too hard on yourself,” Toji continued, “finding and confronting the reason why you feel things can be difficult.” 

Rei simply nodded quietly, “I don’t quite understand fully, but I think I’m beginning to know what you mean.” 

A small breeze passed between the two. 

“Life is cruel isn’t it?” Toji said, “this will be the second time I probably made Shinji regret piloting and Eva. And now I get to truly understand why he hated it so much…” 

Ayanami didn’t respond. 

Toji forced a smirk onto his face and sat up. He picked up an old beat up ukulele he had brought up beside him and waved it at her, “ever seen one of these?” 

“I am familiar,” Rei said.  
“A fan of music? Have any requests?” He said beginning to tune the strings. He doubted it, and sure enough, Rei just shook her head.  
“Ikari-kun showed me a couple songs on his player before...” She looked down and pulled the very player from her pocket. She deeply stared at it for a few moments before tenderly putting it back. 

“My, my, how intimate,” Toji said, “Well, I don’t know very many songs anyways. I only perform for my sister sometimes. Have you ever sang?” 

Again, Rei just shook her head. 

“Ah, well if it's introspection you want to get better at, listening to some music is a good start, a way to reflect on the soul. But singing… singing is an expression of it,” Toji declared, "or so my uncle says."  
He gave her a toothy grin, “If you want to be more in tune with yourself, there’s no better way. Come, come, listen.”  
Toji began plucking at the worn out and still slightly out of tune strings. They were melancholic notes. A lonely song dedicated to the loss of his dear friend’s life. And to the loss of his old life.  
He began to sing. 

_I’m lying on the moon  
My dear, I’ll be there soon  
It’s a quiet, starry place  
Time’s we’re swallowed up in space  
We’re here a million miles away. _

He was no singer, but Toji was never one to care. He looked over at Rei and beckoned her to join him.  
She seemed hesitant at first, but she made her way over and took a seat next to him. 

Her pitch was a bit flat, still carrying that monotonic inflection. And she of course didn’t catch all the words, reverting to just humming along instead to fill the gaps.  
But it was pretty. He could tell it was coming from her heart. And that’s all that really mattered when you sang.  
Toji closed her eyes and sang the soothing tune with her, in harmony. 

__

_We're lying on the moon  
It's a perfect afternoon  
Your shadow follows me all day  
Making sure that I'm okay  
And we're a million miles away  
A million miles away _

“A million miles away… “

A 25 year old Suzuhara Toji strummed the last chord and let it ring through the empty rooftop. He ran a finger across the smooth wood of the new ukelele he had bought that day and looked up.  
The full moon shone alone in the gray musty sky. Not a single star stood by it. 

***

_August 21st, 2025  
1442 JST _

“Large unidentified object approaching the NDZ." 

“Naga or Angel?” Amagi asked.

“Pattern Analysis confirmed Blue. It’s an Angel.” 

“Alright, this is it. Everyone, battle stations, move to Red Level alert. Deploy Unit 01 and 02 out at the NDZ to engage the enemy. I want Units 03 and 06 positioned outside Hakone for backup. Units 04 and 05 will be on standby." 

***  
Unit 01 stepped out from its launch platform and grabbed the nearby deployed pallet rifle. Not too far off, he could see the gleaming Unit 02 doing the same. 

“Getting nervous, Amelia?” Shokaku said playfully.  
“In your dreams,” Amelia scoffed back, “the only thing I’m nervous about is stooping to a low enough level for you.”  
Shokaku chuckled, “We’ll see. Just like we practiced.” 

*** 

“Angel making landfall now!” an operator said.  
“Standby to engage,” Amagi said, “begin the attack pattern on my mark!” 

Amelia and Shokaku leaned forward, poised for the moment. 

In the distance, the Angel emerged from the ocean. Water spilled down the huge hulking mass of destruction and power. The face of a carved deformed skull had its hanging mouth open in a permanent expression of terror. 

*** 

When the visual feed of the Angel flickered on the main screen of the Command center Asuka roughly coughed, attracting the attention of all the operators.  
“Oh fuck…” Asuka shuddered. Her fingers scrapped against the table as they curled up into clenched fists. 

Amagi turned around towards the table, “What’s the matter?”

“That… ain’t Israfel…” was all Asuka could let out. 

“Then what are we dealing with this time? Sandalaphon? That doesn’t look like a spider either…” But they weren’t even paying attention to her. Their eyes were still glued on the screen, hypnotized by what they saw. 

In the clear day, in all its glory and might, Zeruel, the Arm of God, let out a low deep bellow, announcing its presence to the Lilim. 

“We’re fucked,” Shinji said.

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Wow, on pace to 1000 hits. I really had no expectations posting this fic, but thank you everyone that has checked it out. Whether it’s just the same handful of people, or a ton of people who read my stuff for 2 seconds and didn’t even enjoy it, I am honored that you have taken the time and interest to even click on it. Evangelion means a lot to me and it's cool that I can offer even a little to others who probably feel the same way.  
> Also I saw some fics have TV Tropes pages and I thought that was really cool x.x. I kinda want one now since I often frequent there, but I won’t get greedy. Maybe later when I’m closer to completing the whole work lol. Till next time! 
> 
> Trivia  
> -Again, the new West pilots here all have surnames based on mostly US WW2 ships. I originally wasn’t going to except for Ranger, but in my research I found even Langley is named after a US Aircraft Carrier so I took it upon myself.  
> -The person Shinji is trying to quote when he's giving advice to Shokaku is none other than Kaji lol.  
> -I came up with the name Amelia Ranger way back when, but ever since Hololive vtuber Amelia Watson debuted, I can’t help but picture her in my head so I guess it’s a Hololive reference now. She even sang The Moon Song! What!  
> -Speaking of Amelia, I've also come across a fic on ff.net called Neon Genesis Evangelion: War by Hidranick which also happens to feature a team of pilots from the US led by a person named Amelia. It was quite a shock, but I did come up with this concept independently. I didn't really read much fanfic until I started publishing this one and frequenting the sites more often. I dunno how much my word means, but I thought I should acknowledge it since the premise was SO eerily similar. Feel free to check out their work, I went ahead and read a couple chapters and it seemed pretty good. I think I'll finish it.  
> -The song Toji sings is _The Moon Song_ by Karen O and Spike Jonze and featured in the movie _Her_. I always thought it would be a fitting successor to Frank Sinatra’s _Fly me to the Moon_. In my head, if this fic was a show, this song would be the ending credits song. I also think Rei’s voice would fit this song EXTREMELY well .  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxahbnUCZxY  
> -EDIT I had a lot of the Moon Song in the work itself because I liked the lyrics and thought they were fitting but I was unaware of AO3's policy on song lyrics so I removed a good chunk of it. Also, being new to fandom/fanfic culture apparently using song lyrics has a pretty bad rap? I didn't know and hopefully I employed the technique effectively enough.


	8. The Meaning of Might

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle that is brimming with consequence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.

# Episode 8

#### Fire and Brimstone

“So this is an Angel,” Amelia Ranger licked her lips in anticipation. She had seen the reports. She read up on the Nerv File. She had watched the operation footage.  
She was ready for this.

Amelia balled up her hands into fist and with a deep exhale, slowly opened them, letting her fingers unfurl, releasing her breath and the tension in her body.  
“Eyes on me.” 

If the likes of the Third and Fourth Child could hold their own against an Angel, then this should be cake for her. Hell, the First beat one all on his own without even knowing how to deploy an AT Field. Just a matter of execution and sticking with the plan. With that being said though, it did look a bit different than what the Nerv File had said… 

The blink of the communicator coming on sounded and sent a jolt through Ranger. She leaned forward, expecting the battle pattern to commence. 

“All units pull out of the NDZ immediately. Rendezvous back at Hakone, I repeat all units pull back!” Amagi shouted.  
Amelia flinched forward at the false start. She looked up confused as she realized what she was being ordered to do.  
The frazzled voice of Captain Amagi put a frown over Shokaku’s face, “What’s the matter?” he asked.  
“This not the Angel you’ve been detailed about, we need to regroup and restrategize with the other Evas! Go, leave! Hurry!” 

That feeling of heavy dread filled up in Shokaku’s chest as he looked back over to the Angel approaching. As it made its way closer to their position, he realized how massive it was. He couldn’t recall anything in the NERV file with a similar description. What was behind that mask? 

“...come on, Amelia, we need to get out of here,” Shokaku said carefully.

“What?” Ranger breathed, “but we practiced for this. This is supposed to be our moment-”  
“You heard her, this is a different Angel.”  
“What difference does it make? Come on, we can take this,” Amelia urged.  
“This isn’t like the damn Naga, Ranger,” Shokaku shouted, “let’s just pull back. We’re going to need the others,” Shokaku said.  
“Need the others?” Amelia looked over, and gaped in disbelief as she saw Unit 01 already stepping back and leaving. She looked over at the Angel again, still making its way over the ruined landscape of the NDZ.

Unit 02 watched the Angel with a steady and gleaming eye.  
“What do we need the others for?,” Amelia said gritting her teeth, “what do I need you for?” 

Evangelion Unit 02 spun around from behind its cover and squeezed the trigger at the passing Angel.

*** 

“Shots fired, Unit 02 has engaged the Angel!” 

“That’s not good…” Shinji muttered putting a hand to his head.  
“That idiot!” Asuka shouted. 

*** 

Ranger’s pallet rifle gave out as the last round left her rifle and glanced off the Angel.  
“I’m neutralizing its AT field, aren’t I?” she growled. She could feel her heart rate double. Was she? Was she doing it right? It seemed so straightforward in the simulations...

Zeruel gave a raspy groan as it turned its attention towards her. 

“Dodge!” Asuka’s voice pierced through her ears. 

Amelia dove out of the way as the folded arms of the Angel suddenly whipped to life and bolted in her direction. She juked and sidestepped as the razor thin sheets smashed and slashed through the buildings around her. 

It was fast. Blindingly fast. And strong too. It took everything she had to barely inch out of its reach. 

A chunk of concrete smashed into the ground by her feet. Amelia twisted her Eva around to try and weave around it but she felt her heel catch against it.  
“Shit!” she hissed as Unit 02 tripped over and toppled into the floor. Expertly, she rolled back up onto her feet. 

“Amelia!” 

Ranger didn’t even have time to reorient herself when she was roughly pushed aside back onto the ground as Shokaku's shoulder checked straight into her.  
Zeruel’s blast hit Unit 01 square in the back. Leaving a molten charred mark right where the entry plug was inserted.  
The Evangelion toppled over, slamming face first into the ground and lay there unmoving.  
“Shinji!” Ranger shouted. She only had her eyes off the Angel for one second for this to happen and she made the mistake of taking her attention away for one second more as she looked down in horror at the wasted Eva. 

Ranger looked back up and could do nothing but watch as its razor thin arm blitzed right at her.  
“Cut the neural link!” Amagi yelled. 

Ranger stared stunned as the arm stabbed itself right into her neck before her entry plug cut to black. She let out a choked gasp and clutched her throat. 

The Command Center watched as Unit 02’s head smashed into the ground, cratering the asphalt. 

*** 

“Wait, this can’t…” Amelia said. She desperately pulled on her control yokes over and over, trying to get a response, “Is anyone there? Is Shinji alright? What’s happening?” she screamed into the void of her own cockpit.  
A chill ran down her spine when the entry plug around her gave a soft rumble in response. Her mouth clamped up and her entire body went tense, waiting as the Angel passed by outside. She sat in frozen anticipation as the space around her slowly faded into stillness again.

Amelia slumped back into her pilot seat and curled up into as small a ball as possible. Her hands gripped the side of her head. 

*** 

“This is bad, this is bad, this is bad.”  
The Command Center watched as Zeruel emerged from its third N2 bombing, still unfazed and unhindered making a steady pace right towards Hakone. Towards them. 

“Who knew there could be such a being,” Amagi said breathlessly. 

“Evacuation and lockdown of the city is only 55% complete!” one of the head operators said. 

“ETA to Hakone, 15 minutes.” 

“Has anyone been able to reach the Commander?” Amagi asked. 

“He’s not picking up. We have also been unsuccessful in reaching his security detail.” 

“The Commander had a meeting a couple hours ago, but he should have been long done with that,” Amagi said biting her thumb, "things are about to get ugly."  
She whipped around furiously to her three consultants sitting behind her. “Could you care to explain to me why the Nerv File is once again... insufficient?” Amagi said, her voice trembled as she barely kept her temper in check. 

“Ramiel and Gahgiel were the 5th and 6th Angel. This is supposed to be the damn _14th_!” Asuka said.  
After Gahgiel made a surprise appearance, they made sure to hurry up and go ahead and try and go through as many Angels as possible but they had only gotten to Leliel, the 12th.  
“You had a week!”  
“Well sorry, but we also had to play babysitter too remember?” Asuka said shakily. She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure.

Asuka was never one to show any signs of vulnerability, but even Amagi was taken aback at how clearly distressed she was. 

“You alright Asuka?” Shinji whispered gently. He put a hand on her shoulder to which she flinched but Shinji kept it there and gave it a reaffirming knead until he felt it relax a little.  
“You can sit this one out of you have to…” Shinji said. He could see her pale look and clammy skin, but that’s about what Shinji was feeling right now.  
“No, no,” Asuka scoffed, “and leave it to you two stooges? No way.”  
She gave a haughty laugh, but Shinji felt her feet hook around his in reassurance underneath the table. 

“Well if you’re going to stay and help, then how about you start helping," Amagi said, "what is this Angel?” 

"Honestly, even if we had told you about it beforehand, it wouldn’t have changed much,” Shinji said, "This is the strongest rejection type Angel that we’ve encountered in our world. No tricks, no gimmicks. Just straight conventional combat." 

“Well you still beat it somehow didn’t you?” Amagi asked. 

“I mean WE didn’t technically beat it…” Shinji scratched his head in frustration as his mind raced erratically. This particular Angel had already been on the back of his mind ever since starting the NERV File, no ever since they learned Angels would be back, but he had been expecting more time to craft a solution. How do they beat this thing without a Berserk Unit 01?  
Then Shinji realized that they had someone already beat it without a Berserk Unit 01. And he was sitting just on his right. 

“Toji…” Shinji started giving his arm a tap, “Toji, I couldn’t have been there for the 14th, how did you beat it…?” 

Suzuhara Toji had been very quiet this entire operation. As if in a daze, distracted. Shinji thought it was the shock from seeing the 14th, but he had yet to bounce back at all. However, he saw a little light return in his eyes when Shinji asked him the question. He looked over, as if he had just woken up from a dream. 

“How did you beat the 14th, Toji?” Shinji asked again. 

Toji stared at the screen, watching the carnage, and he gave a sigh, “Well… I was still in the hospital when it came, but uh, Ayanami… Ayanami did tell me how she was able to do it.” 

“That Doll Girl beat it?” Asuka asked incredulously.

Toji nodded, but he didn’t continue. He was hesitating for some reason. Shinji cocked his head trying to read him. He was nervous about something. Unsure 

“I just don’t know if we should…” he muttered with a strained face, confirming Shinji’s suspicions. And Shinji leaned back in his chair as it suddenly hit him somehow. 

“You used the Lance didn’t you…” Shinji said. 

Toji looked over at him, surprised. 

“The Lance of Longinus?” Asuka asked. 

“...How did you know?” 

“Just a feeling…” Shinji said. Although he wasn’t too sure himself. 

“But we can’t,” Amagi said, “that’ll… that’ll free one of the Seeds of Life and we can’t do that?” 

"the Lance would be strong enough to kill the Angel quite soundly," Shinji mused, "if we could dispatch the Angel quick enough, there may be a chance we can return and subdue the Seed of Life again in time." 

“It might be our only choice,” Toji continued, building some momentum, “if the Angel is going to get to Terminal Dogma anyway it’s a gamble we need to take.” 

“You think we’re in that bad a position? Even with four Evas...” Amagi asked. 

Shinji shook his head, “Even with six..." 

He clasped his hands and rested his face against it, as if in prayer. He wished there was some better way. Because he was certain this was not going to end well for the pilots, for anyone.  
Shinji gazed upon the main screen of the Command Center and watched as Zeruel blasted through a defensive line of autoturrets. The last defensive line before it reached the walls of the city.  
An image of Kaji Ryouji appeared in his head. Just tending to his watermelons. He looked up at Shinji with a smile, and eyes of chilling content, of acceptance.

"Well, which Lance do we use?" Amagi said. 

Toji looked like he was about to speak up when Asuka stepped in, "It's gotta be SHESHA, right? I mean either would be risky, but having ADAM released is a definitive no-no." 

Amagi slowly nodded, "okay... okay, let's do it then. We'll get the Lance and regroup down in the Geofront and get this over with." 

***

“So are they alright?” Chitose asked.  
Unit 03 and Unit 04 were making their way down the facility. Deeper than they had ever gone in their years here. Hojo gave fleeting glance over and tried to cooly continue as he saw they were approaching Terminal Dogma.

“Yeah,” Amagi said, “Their Evas were incapacitated so I don’t think we can count on them for this operation, but the pilots themselves should be okay.”  
This was a lie, they did have a plugsuit reading from Ranger, but Shokaku’s status was still unknown. Amagi pinched the bridge of her nose, “just focus on what we’re doing now, and let’s make sure we can all get through this. "

“Right." 

“I didn’t want to say anything yet, but are you sure I should be the one doing this?” Chitose asked.  
“Well apparently someone...” Amagi said, glancing over at Ikari, “...already disclosed the Seeds of Life to you two. This information should still be witheld to the West and we don’t have time to explain it to them right now. So just grab the Lance and meet them in the Geofront.” 

“We need someone to stall anyways,” Toji added, “it's here.” 

***

“Section 04 of the Wall has been breached!” an operator yelled 

“No way… in one hit?” Amagi said. 

A swarm of UN gunships hovered from a distance as Zeruel emerged through the hole in the wall that it had just torn. Passing through the smoke that billowed off of it like a cloak, the Angel looked down at the sprawling city. 

The eyes of the 14th gleamed as a crucifix shaped explosion blossomed into the sky. Proud buildings and infrastructure and people alike vaporized and crumbled away. 

“It just punched through 18 layers of armor!” 

“Dear God,” Amagi winced, “are we even going to have time to retrieve the Lance in time?”  
But an even worse realization dawned upon her as the Angel fired blast after blast across city. It made its way around the Lilim civilization laying complete waste to everything it saw. It was acting like the Naga, completely focused on erasing anything that looked man or man-made. The Command Center reported more and more cracks in the special armor, but Zeruel made no intention of hitting its way through the rest of it then through simple collateral damage. 

“It’s… razing the city?” Amagi whispered with a strained face. She went to hail Unit 05 and Unit 06 but Ikari stopped her.  
“No, no…” Shinji grimaced, “Keep them in the Geofront. You said it yourself. We need all the time we can get… If they get incapacitated up there, before we can get the Lance, it's game over.” 

Amagi gritted her teeth.  
It's the opposite of his attitude he had with Sachiel, “what’s your real priority here?” 

*** 

Hojo and Chitose waited as the last of the series of huge metal blast doors slowly churned open for them. 

Hojo took a deep breath, “you ready?”  
Chitose nodded, “let’s do it.” 

They didn’t wait for the doors to even fully open. They quickly ducked down and rolled through as soon as there was enough space to allow them to. 

Chitose got back to her feet and couldn’t but let out a breath of wonder. 

In the distance, under a single glowing spot of light, a serpent of enormous size laid curled up, half submerged in a lake of purple liquid. Its body was a pale gray, petrified in a layer of what looked like stone. It’s head lay on top of its coiled body, the same gleaming lance they had seen in ADAM pierced through the top of its mouth, towering straight and tall. The whole thing looked like some indecipherable monument. 

The two Evas stepped into the liquid and tread through it. It had a thick and viscous feel to it. Hojo winced as he felt the thick fluid swirl under the feet of his Eva. It wasn’t water. It wasn’t even LCL. It felt unnerving.

They reached the body of SHEHSA and climbed up its coiled layers like steps until they got to its head. 

“Alright, I’m going to pull the Lance,” Hojo said, nodding at her. He firmly grasped the Lance.  
“I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to hold this down…” Chitose said. It only seemed larger now that they were on top of it. It wasn’t particularly thick or stockily built, but its length was easily many times longer than a single Eva. It’s title as Seed of Life, mother of the Naga, the monsters they had fought for years and been so fearful of for over a decade, only made her more wary. 

“You just keep need to keep it occupied in here until we finish up with the Angel,” Hojo said, trying to reassure her, but he wasn’t all too convinced either.

Unit 04 bent down and got a firm grip over the base of its neck, just behind its head, “Alright, go for it.” 

Hojo took a deep breath and pulled up on the Lance. It was stuck in there pretty good. He grunted from the strain as he planted his feet down and pulled as hard as he could. 

Chitose watched as the prongs of the Lance slowly but surely inched out until all at once Hojo almost fell backwards as it broke free. 

Unit 03 regained its balance, the spear now in hand. They stood still, holding their breath, but nothing seemed to happen. 

Hojo gave a small sigh and spoke aloud into the comms, “I’ve got the Lance, heading back up now.” 

“Come quickly,” Amagi’s voice answered. 

Hojo stepped down from the serpent, but as he reached the last layer of its tail, he slipped and stumbled forward and splashed into the purple liquid. 

He turned around and saw that the stone like material on its tail had crumbled. Did he do that?  
No. As he gave the serpent a quick glance over, he saw that cracks were beginning to form all around its body. 

“Uhm, Chitose?” he started.  
“I see it, just hurry, go!” Chitose said.  
“Right,” Hojo said and he took off as fast as he could out of Terminal Dogma. 

***

The loud groan of the blast doors closed behind Hojo and the room was enveloped once again with silence. But now she could hear the splash of liquid as more and more of the stone began peeling off revealing a glistening pale white skin underneath.  
Chitose tightened her grip. 

At the rate the it seemed the stone was falling off, it appeared like it would be some time before it was completely free. But Chitose jolted in shock as a sweet melodic howl suddenly sounded off, echoing off walls of the hollow space. 

She saw SHESHA’s eyes glow to life. 

The stone around its head suddenly burst open and the mouth stretched open as it gave off another sweetly cry. Chitose sort of expected any noise this thing gave off to be utterly terrifying or reprehensible. If its children were any indication, she expected Mama Naga to be twice as repulsive. But its song was actually quite beautiful, in a chilling and haunting sort of way. It's piercing whistle touched her mind like chilled fingers.

The remainder of the stone on its skin began shedding at an exponentially increasing rate. She felt its body underneath her begin to move. 

Finally, the last of the stone dropped to the floor and she saw its skin begin to flash a glowing white. Shades of iridescence flashed in her eyes as SHESHA began to fully awaken. 

It started off well enough. She felt the serpent squirm weakly underneath her as it got a feel for its body again. Every time its head tried to move out of line though, she easily tugged it back into place, SHESHA seemingly obeyed her restraint. 

But slowly, it tried to lurch forward more aggressively, more forcefully, and each time she anchored it back down it let out a frustrated whistle. All around her, its body began to slither faster, quicker. It was disorienting, it felt like the world was spinning around her. 

Then it bucked one more time with even more force than the previous times and although Chitose could have most likely forced it down once more, the leg of Unit 04 buckled. 

Chitsoe gave a small gasp as her right leg gave out on her and she fell forward completely off balance. 

“They said this damn leg was ready!” Chitose cried. SHESHA immediately took advantage and its head jerked to the side in a corkscrew and she felt the Seed of Life rip away from her grip. 

“NO!” 

She tried one last dive for the Seed of Life but she felt a force roughly throw her Eva all the way towards the edge of the room. 

Octagons of light crackled around SHEHSA as it unleashed AT Field. 

With a high pitched shout, the seemingly thick blast doors imploded on itself and crumpled like an aluminum can, and with newfound speed and power, SHESHA sped outside of Terminal Dogma and was gone. 

*** 

“I lost it!” Chitose sobbed into the comms, “my leg… it was my leg, I couldn’t…” 

“I suppose it was inevitable,” Toji muttered. 

“Like hell it is, where is it now?” Amagi yelled.

“We can’t… I’m not seeing any sign of it?” one of the operators said, puzzled. 

“It’s a giant fucking snake inside one of the most secure places on the planet. Find it!” Amagi bellowed.  
But as if on cue, the surface of the Geofront erupted in a geyser of dirt. Units 05 and 06 spun around as the glowing serpent quickly made its way out onto the ground. 

"What? Out already?" Asuka said. 

“What in the god damn world is that?” Russell exclaimed. 

“Units 05 and 06 intercept it! Do not let that thing escape!" 

“I can’t move!” Russel shouted.  
The two Western Evas took all but one step towards SHESHA before they locked up, paralyzed. “It’s an AT Field, coming from SHEHSA,” an operator shouted, “these numbers…”  
The strength of its AT Field was at least magnitude above anything an Eva ever produced. The Seed of Life demonstrated the powerlessness of humanity’s greatest weapon with ease.

Across its back, wings of light began to sprout and take form. The brilliant light the Seed of Life shone at a higher and higher frequency. Its bright white was suddenly a shade of lavender, then a rich green, then a bold blue. It pulsed through the spectrum and its intensity skyrocketed until before they realized it, it was in the air. 

It twisted and turned high in the space of the Geofront, gracefully, gallantly. The crawling serpent now a rearing dragon. It shot upwards straight through the center of the ceiling of the Geofront.  
And all everyone could do was watch. 

Amagi’s shoulders drooped as she painfully accepted they could not stop what was about to happen next. 

*** 

A squadron of F-16 fighter jets screamed by overhead and a barrage of missiles peppered across Zeruel, but the Angel shrugged it off, not even paying attention to the nuisance. It fired a blast, leveling yet another entire neighborhood. 

Then, from behind the Angel, the glowing trail of SHESHA emerged with a melodic screech. 

Zeruel turned and faced the Seed of Life as it weaved and swirled in the air. 

SHESHA let out another piercing scream as the two transcendent beings faced off one another. 

The Command Center watched on in complete silence.  
Shinji didn’t know actually what would happen or how an Angel itself would trigger anything when it reached a Seed of Life. Would it be similar to Second Impact? Would it be okay since this was the Naga Seed of Life?  
There was no point in asking these questions out loud. He simply watched with bated breath. 

But Zeruel did nothing. It stood there and watched the Seed of Life glide around the open air, as if it was as captivated as them. And after what seemed like an eternal standoff, SHEHSA took off out of the city, leaving a trail of light and glitter as it made its way over the mountains. 

Then Zeruel began to move again, towards the place the Seed of Life had escaped and began to descend. 

The Seed of Life blew like a gust of wind toward the Pacific from where Zeruel had emerged.

And the Angel of Strength entered the Geofront from whence SHESHA came. 

#### The Meaning of Might

“Make sure we do not lose that Seed of Life. I want recon and visual on it at all times!” Amagi said.  
The Command Center hesitantly came to life again. 

“Hojo what’s your status?” 

"Is everything alright? did it escape?" 

"don't worry about that now, what's your status?" 

“I’m at the launch pad now! Number 9!” 

“Launch!” 

“Anyone going to tell me what the heck I just saw?” Russell said through the comms. 

“Again, we’ll catch you up after this. Right now, I need you to focus on this Angel. Draw its fire and give Hojo a clear shot.” 

The Angel was slowly making its way down the open air of the Geofront. 

***

Hojo Ryou watched as he sped through the underground launch system. He winced when he cleared the darkness of the underground, and the light of the Geofront entered his eyes. Except it was exceptionally bright. Like he could barely see.

“Oh shit!” he couldn’t even get his arms up to protect himself, much less a properly established AT Field, as a beam of energy collided with him head on.  
A massive explosion sent Unit 03 flying backwards and he tumbled ferociously across the ground. 

“Damn, how did it know he was coming” Amagi shouted, “Hojo, are you alright?” 

“Unit 03 is down!” an operator called, “significant damage!” 

“Where’s the lance?” Asuka yelled. 

The gleaming red weapon had glanced off and was sticking out of the ground off to the side. 

“Unit 05, grab that weapon! Use it to defeat the target!” 

Jeremiah Russell pushed his yokes forward and Unit 05 took off at a sprint towards the Lance. 

Zeruel reached the floor of the Geofront and watched as the Eva made its way across the ground. The eyes of the Angel slowly charged up another blast when suddenly a rocket collided against its face. 

Nicole Maury quickly fired another torrent of rockets from her launcher, trying to grab its attention. 

And that she did. Through the smoke the thin ribbon arm of Zeruel blasted toward her. Maury instinctively hopped backwards trying to avoid its reach, but she felt something firmly tighten around her ankles. It roughly yanked on her leg and Unit 06 flipped up and crashed onto its back.  
The impact blurred Maury’s vision and she sat there stunned for a moment pain radiating from the back of her head. It felt like her brain had been rattled in her skull. It took her a moment to realize that her Eva was being dragged sideways across the ground. Then it was airborne.  
Her eyes shot open and she shook her control sticks wildly before understanding her Eva was soaring through the air.  
It had literally thrown her. 

Unit 05 stretched out its arms, the Lance right within reach when Unit 06 slammed into him. 

“Woah!” Russell shouted and Maury let out a meek yelp as they tangled together and crashed into the floor. 

Maury was completely disoriented from the blow but Jeremiah looked up to see one of Zeruel’s arms snaking its way right towards them.  
No, not to them. The Lance. 

With Maury still on top of him, Russel stretched his leg and gave it a sweeping kick, knocking the lance to the ground. It clattered to the floor as the Angel’s arms wrapped around the empty air where it used to be.  
Zereul paused for a minute before redirecting its grasp downward, again towards the Lance. The black paper coiled around it and began dragging it towards itself. 

Russell pushed off Maury and dove for the lance catching it in a bearhug. He scrambled to his feet and tried to plant himself into the ground, but there was no stopping the pull of Zeruel. He felt his Eva and the Lance slowly being dragged closer and closer to its menacing figure. 

Russell deployed his prog knife and began sawing at Zeruels arms. He heard the Angel give a deep raspy groan as the vibrating blade came into contact with it. 

Zeruel seemed to have enough of that and it unraveled itself and retreated back, freeing the Lance. 

Unit 05 gripped the Lance of Longinus, “I got it!” 

“Hurry throw it! Right through its core.” 

Jeremiah widened his stance ready to launch it when he saw the Angel’s arms whip backwards up to its shoulders, cocking itself for another attack. 

“No time!” 

Instead he turned around to Maury who was getting back to her feet, “Nicole catch!”  
Unit 06 looked up and put her arms out ready to receive it.  
Russell twisted around and tossed over the Lance to her like a frisbee. 

But he never did see the Lance leave his hand.  
Instead, of the Lance flying towards her, the black arm of Zeruel past shot straight past him at Unit 06. The black ribbon coiled around the Eva’s head and tightened firmly around it.  
He could hear Maury’s panicky voice tremble through the comms, “I… I can’t see! 

“Get out of there!” Amagi’s voice affirmed, “Eject the plug! Now!”  
And with that, Jeremiah saw her entry plug rocket away just as the space wrapped under Zeruel’s arms where Unit 06’s head would be caved in, utterly crushed. 

Curious as to why the Lance never went airborne, he now slowly turned his attention down to his right arm. He swore he threw it at least. Did he still have it?  
Purple blood of the Eva was now spewing where the robotic limb used to be. Zeruel had slashed clean through it on its way to grabbing Maury. He saw the Lance on the floor, his detached hand still gripped around it. 

“You are… quite the handful aren't you…” Jeremiah laughed. But his eyes were wide in fear. He turned around and the Angel just silently stared at him with those empty hollow eyes.  
With a final shout, Jeremiah Russell charged the Angel reading his prog knife in his last remaining arm, but he only made it a few steps before Zeruel downed him with a shattering blast. A spray of dirt and grass spiked into the air as Unit 05 slammed into the ground. 

***

“Unit 05… down…” an operator said.

“Is that it?” Amagi breathed, “did we just lose…”

*** 

Zeruel gave a final look at his enemies making sure none of them moved before turning back to the pyramid building of the UN HQ. Its eyes gleamed and a fiery explosion rocked the entire base. 

Everyone in the command center braced themselves as the very ground beneath them rattled violently. 

"Direct hit on Headquarters!"  
“The Central Shaft is exposed!” An operator shouted.  
“Angel approaching!” 

Shinji looked over at Amagi. The explosion had knocked her off balance and she had fell to the floor, but she lay there on her knees, without the will to get up. 

“Unit 04?” Shinji shouted, “what’s your position?” 

“I just got back to the docking bay…” the voice said through the comms. 

“Head over to launch pad 7.” 

“But… my leg…” Chitose started. 

“You’re all we got! Get there now!” 

*** 

“All we got… what happened to the others?” Chitose murmured to herself silently. 

The entire bay rumbled and she looked up around her. It didn't feel distant. It must be attacking the base directly. Everyone else was gone? She was the only one left? 

“Chitose, NOW.” 

She gritted her teeth and shuffled forward. The last Eva dragged its leg across towards the launch bays in front of her. 

***

“The Angel is positioned right above the Central Shaft!”  
“She’s not going to make it in time!” Asuka shouted, “it’s going to get into the base!”

“That doesn’t matter, all she needs is the Lance! All personnel evacuate the center! I repeat, full evacuation!” Shinji shouted already on his feet. 

The entire Command room was drowned in a crimson light as an alarm began to echo cacophonously around the room. Operators began scrambling out of their seats and shuffling for the exit. 

“Go Asuka,” Shinji said, “Toji, take her out of here!” 

“What do you mean, what about you?” she said confused. 

“I need to do something. Someone needs to bring Chitose up to get the Lance.” 

“I am not leaving you!?” She said, flabbergasted and shot him a firm look of defiance. Shinji didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or scream. Very ironic that any sign of Asuka’s earlier panic attack seemed to have evaporated the moment Zeruel was right on top of them. The moment Shinji wanted her to actually leave. 

“Toji, get her out of here!” Shinji demanded, “start moving, man!” 

Shinji turned over to him, Toji had gotten out of his seat, but he wasn’t showing any intention of leaving. In fact, that didn’t even seem to the reason he gotten to his feet in the first place. Toji leaned forward, his eyes were locked on the main screen. 

In the corner, where it showed the status of all the Units deployed, there was an alert, flashing. 

“What’s that?” Asuka asked. 

*** 

Hojo could have just laid there.  
He could have pretended he couldn't move.  
That's what he's already done a couple of times. A lot of times.  
When he fought the first Angel, he ran because he was scared, but he was sure someone else could have taken care of it. Chitose or Shokaku.  
When he fought the sixth Angel, he silently stood there, because he knew Shokaku was already on his way to save Chitose.  
He was the weakest pilot. He knew that. Everyone knew that. The UN operators, the media, the public, the other pilots. The scores spoke for themselves. They didn't really need him. 

_"You think I could have done any of that stuff back there without you? "_

Yeah, maybe I can be pretty good backup but its different when its just me.  
You were there. It's different when it's just me. 

I never really cared about my own success here. I gave up on that a long time ago. 

_"I think now is the time for you to ask yourself, really, why do you pilot the Eva?"_

If you don't care about your own success, why do you pilot? because I care about others' successes. Seeing that big smile Shokaku has whenever he comes back from a successful operation, it's wonderful. You never seen a man so pleased. And did you see the look on Chitose's face after she killed the 5th? Like fireworks.  
I'm no good. I can't do anything right on my own and I could never feel that joy, that achievement. But whenever I see them do it, I get a taste. Just a taste of accomplishment. And at that moment I do feel joy, I feel purpose. For them. I stick around and prop my friends up, because that's all I'll ever be good for and that makes me feel needed.  
So I don't mind staying down. I don't mind just laying here. If a footstool for others is all I can be, I'll do it, because it's better than what I'd be on my own. Nothing. 

_But it's only you now._

_No one is here to make everything okay. What's a footstool good for by itself?_

_It's just you._

So what am I supposed to do, Mother? 

Hojo gasped and bolted up in his pilot's seat. 

_"Ho, this is new, since when did you get a backbone, Third Child?"_

*** 

All the operators who were just a moment ago flooding out to the emergency shelters all paused now, looking up at the screen as well. 

“Unit 03 has … reactivated...” 

“...what?” Amagi asked, She had made no move to evacuate or even get back on her feet, but her eyes finally pulled away from the floor to the screen. 

“Get a visual on the main screen!” Shinji said. 

One of the head operators brought up the camera and they all watched in wonder. In horror.

***

Slowly, meticulously, deliberately, Unit 03 rolled over and got back up onto its knees. It stretched out its shoulders and back and craned its neck as if it had awoken from a long uncomfortable slumber.  
It turned its head around revealing a pair of eyes glowing a pure white light.  
The mask guard of Unit 03 snapped open as it stretched open its mouth in a deep and heavy and guttural yawn. 

Zeruel hovered over the exposed Central shaft, ready to descend but it slowly turned around upon hearing the Evangelion Unit stir. 

*** 

“What in the world…” Amagi said breathlessly.  
“Berserk…” Toji whispered.  
“So they could do it...” Asuka said. 

*** 

The awoken Unit 03 reared its head back and screamed its mechanical roar and it launched itself into a sprint towards the Angel.  
Zeruel fired a blast but Unit 03 leapt over it, impossibly and unnaturally high. It slammed into Zeruel head on and tackled it into the ground. 

“Hojo, can you read us, are you there?” Amagi shouted, life slowly returning to her, “Hojo!” 

*** 

Chitose’s eyes widened, “Hojo? Hojo was back up?”  
She had reached the launch pad.  
She had been there for a while now, but she was having trouble bringing herself to get them to send her up. To fight that thing alone. But if Hojo was there…  
She slammed her fists against the controls sticks amping herself up. She gave a deep breath as her hands moved down to grip the yokes with determination. 

*** 

The operators could only watch as the Berserk Unit 03 thrashed around with Zereul. Whereas all of the other Evas could barely even touch the Angel, Unit 03 wrestled around and battled it as its equal. 

“Amagi! Ikari! I’m at the launch pad!” Chitose’s voice suddenly cried out. 

“Send her up! Quickly! Launch pad 7 NOW!” 

*** 

"is that... an Eva?" Chitose asked in no one in particular, "is that Hojo?" 

The Angel of Strength growled in frustration as the Evangelion clawed and punched at its body wildly and without any restraint. It clubbed at it with its fist, visibly making the Angel flinch from the impact. Chitose couldn't help but stare in awe at the ferocious battle.

"Just hurry and grab the Lance, its just up ahead of you on your left side!" 

Chitose snapped to and frantically looked around before spotting the crimson weapon. She limped over to it as fast as she could. 

Unit 03 brought its teeth down and tore a chunk of the Angel away in its mouth. With a howl, the Angel finally managed to knock away the Berserk Evangelion as it unleashed its AT Field at full power emitting a shockwave from its body.

Zeruel turned around and looked straight at Chitose hopping forward awkwardly towards the Lance, its eyes already glowing.  
But Unit 03 was already back on its feet. 

Without hesitation, Hojo leapt forward and wrapped his arms around the Angel and pulled its body up. Zeruel energy blast fired up high into the Geofront, colliding with the ceiling. 

“I got the Lance!” she exclaimed. She swiveled around at the Angel and prepared to throw it until she saw Unit 03 struggling to hold it at bay behind it. “Get out of the way, Hojo!” 

Hojo's voice finally appeared. It came through choppy and spliced as the the communicator struggled to establish a connection, "just... throw it! Just do it!" 

Chitose shook her head, “I can’t! It’ll hit you if I do!” 

"You have to do it, Chitose," he yelled, "I know you have it in you!" 

“No, this is different. Don’t make me do this Ryou,” Chitose began to sob, “Just fucking move out of the way! You don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this.” 

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up!” Hojo just yelled, “While you still have the chance!” Unit 03 again roughly pulled up on the Angel’s head as it fired another devastating blast of energy. The destructive light glittered up to the ceiling of the Geofront again and another rocking explosion shook the place. Chitose grunted as dust and debris trickled down over her. If he let go for just a second, the Angel would surely get her. She only had one leg, she couldn't dodge. And how was Hojo even piloting like that? How much longer would the Evangelion keep it up?

“Chitose,” a voice came from command, Ikari whispering in her ear “...you need to do it.” 

“No, this isn’t something I can do…I can’t...” 

“It’s what he’d do,” Ikari said, “if he were in Hojo’s situation or yours, you know what he’d do.” 

Chitose looked up and gave a shaky sigh.  
The end of the world. The end of all the people that watched her, in Japan, across the globe. Amagi was watching. The West was watching. Ikari was watching. Shokaku would be watching.

And with a ragged scream she reared back, balancing on one leg and twisting her hip and released the Lance of Longinus. 

“Atta girl,” Hojo smirked. 

She didn’t think she could muster enough power with just one foot, but the red bolt flew straight and true. It sliced through the AT field as if it was the same as the normal air and Zeruel let out a bellow as it made contact with its core.  
There was a brilliant flash of light and everyone averted their eyes for a moment before reluctantly turning back.  
No matter the result, Amagi felt that dreadful sinking feeling in her stomach. 

Finally, everything was still.  
Zeruel was still hovering in the air, its hollow eyes looking on vigilantly, but a large gaping hole was present where its core once stood. Without another sound, the Anger began to dissolve away, a misty black smoke rising up as its body unraveled and fell like rope down to the ground.  
As the Angel disintegrated, it revealed Unit 03 behind it also frozen in place. A hole of equal size where its core was as well. Where its entry plug was. 

Everyone took in the few fleeting seconds of it, a final glance at Hojo Ryou before the remains of Zeruel violently exploded, incinerating the Evangelion beyond recognition. 

One last cross shaped crucifix bloomed inside the Geofront. A brilliant flash of light. Like fireworks. 

And as the ground beneath them came to a still, the only sound that echoed in the Command Center was Chitose, wailing into her hands across the comms. 

*** 

“Move us down to yellow alert, begin extraction of the remaining pilots and any field units…” Shinji said. 

Captain Amagi stormed up to their desk, straight towards Shinji. She was seething, her breath dripping with venom, but she could just barely steel herself into saying any words.  
“I hope you’re happy. That’s another Angel gone for you…” 

Shinji couldn’t quite look her in the eyes, he could only mumble an apology, “I’m sorry.”  
“What call was he supposed to make there?” Asuka spoke up for him, bitterly. 

Amagi turned to her and slammed her hands down on the table. She glared at Asuka, a countenance contorted with fiery rage, but Asuka simply met her with a gaze of ice and stone. They stared each other down for a few stretched seconds before Amagi finally gave in, letting out a heaving sigh, she collapsed onto the table, head buried in her arms, “I don’t know... I… hate this… I don’t want to do this…” 

“...Well that makes two of us…” Shinji muttered. 

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I try to keep myself on a weekly schedule (or else I will never finish this) but I did run into some problems in and out of the story.  
> I felt this chapter lacked substance while the next is gonna be pretty loaded but I felt it was better for the story as a whole not to try and mix em up.  
> I first envisioned this fic visually, but as a writer, I'm learning that its hard to have a chapter focused around action (episode 5 was similar). Hope you still enjoyed.


	9. By Any Other Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The city and the pilots must rebuild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.

# Episode 9

The automatic doors whirred open and a tired woman and a young boy stepped through, hand in hand. 

“Mom, what are we doing here? why aren't we at our apartment?" 

"I thought you didn't like it there?" She smiled at him, “so we’ve left, you won’t have to see that place anymore. Think of it like a camping trip! We’re going to be spending the night here for now.”

A small frown formed over Shokaku as he tried to make sense of this situation, “so we’re staying here?” 

“That’s right, for the time being,” she discreetly flashed her old student ID to the half asleep guard who just gave a dismissive nod.  
The university library gave a soft homely yellow glow, but a surreal and ethereal atmosphere had settled in as the time stretched to late in the night, or rather early in the morning. There were far and few people about within its walls and they moved through the maze of books and shuffled in their seats in a dream-like trance, like ghosts. 

“Well, it is a lot bigger. And warmer,” Shokaku said a smile spreading across his face. 

“And look at all these books! Why don’t you go pick one out and I can read you it for bed,” she said, taking a seat on one of the lounge sofas tucked in the corner of the building, “I’ll wait right here.”

“Mmm, I want you to tell me a story,” Shokaku insisted, jumping onto the couch next to her instead. 

“Well... okay, okay. What do you want to hear about?” 

“I wanna hear about the old house again,” Shokaku said, throwing his head across her lap, “the one before the icky one.”  
“Ah, again?” she said, “you were there you know?”  
“But I don’t remember! Please?”  
The mother gave a chuckle, “well you were just a baby. Okay, well as you know it was a grand place I tell you. A mansion. No a palace. Definitely much much better than the other one.  
“We had ornate carpets all across the halls, with striking wallpaper. We had crystal chandeliers in every room, even in the bathrooms, you know. My, I believe we had seven dining rooms, and we ate at a different one for every day of the week. But my favorite one was a clean beautiful breakfast area, with a wide open window. We had a luscious view. A bright green forest where we would watch the wildlife and animals and the sun above it.”  
Shokaku’s eyes sparkled as he transported himself there, “what kind of animals?”  
“There were birds of every color that would come sing for us. A wise and mighty moose would stop by and chat with us as we ate every once and awhile…”  
“What about lions! Or bears!”  
“Oh, even better. I don’t believe I told you ever about this, but we got you a bodyguard while we were there. To protect you when you were little,” she smirked, “a ferocious tiger. And if something bad would try and sneak into the house, it would leap out and scare it off with a powerful roar.” She bared her teeth and put clawed hands up.  
“No way,” Shokaku giggled.  
“I’m telling you,” she laughed. 

Shokaku sighed, “How come we don’t live there anymore? Why did we have to go?  
Her smile wavered for just a moment.  
“Does it have something to do with Dad?” 

“We’re just in a rough spot. Everyone finds themselves in a rough spot every once in a while. But it's not because of Dad or anyone. It just happens to everyone. That’s why you should always be kind and help others, because you never know if they are.” 

“Well then, how come no one is helping us?” Shokaku frowned, “what happened to that Tiger? Or Mr. Moose. Shouldn’t they be helping now?” 

“They have their own things they had to take care of too,” she simply said, “just a rough spot. You know, a hero always reaches a point where they are down on their luck. When all odds are against them. The darkest hour. But that’s just to make way for a triumphant return. And you’ll see that it was all worth it. Now sleep, it’s quite late.” 

The young Shokaku looked up at his mother’s face. She looked down at him, with that wide reassuring grin and for a moment, maybe everything would be alright. 

But as he held his gaze with her, he felt his skin tingle uncomfortably. 

“Mom?” he asked, confused. But she did not respond. She just stared down at him, her smile wide, her eyes unblinking. Her bowed head cast a harrowing shadow over him and across her face. 

“Mom?” he repeated. 

But she kept on looking down at him. With those lifeless eyes. 

Then he realized he was just looking at a picture of her. A grainy photo in a humble wooden frame. A cheap bundle of incense burned beside it. A tombstone with her name etched into it in the backdrop.

“Mom!” Shokaku Shinji gasped as he bolted up in the hospital bed. He gave a shuddered sigh and wiped the cold sweat from his brow as the image dissolved away in his mind.  
He was back in a bleach and desaturated hospital room. The only sound was the rhythmic beep of a monitor by his bed. It was also the only company he had. He flopped back into the cushy pillows and looked up at the dull gray ceiling.

“Not sure how many more triumphant returns I have in me…”

#### Divination

_August 23rd, 2025_

Shokaku was never much for fashion. He usually just stuck to the clothes the UN issued him which was just either the uniform or his plugsuit a majority of the time . But he had another piece of attire that he was given to wear occasionally. 

He tightened his black tie up around his neck and buttoned up the matching black suit. 

This suit always made him feel the worst.  
Maybe even more so than his plug suit. 

“You could take another day to rest…” Amagi said, stepping up beside him in the mirror, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want…” 

“I want to be there,” Shokaku said firmly, “I need to be there.” 

*** 

A convoy of black cars rumbled through the roads.  
Shokaku stared blankly out the window as they passed crumbled walls plastered with missing posters. Groups of dusty survivors holding their remaining possessions in just their two hands and back shuffled about. With nowhere to go.  
Just like him all those years ago.  
He could hear the crackle as tires drove across dirt and debris that littered the once clean roads. His city, a beacon of humanity’s pride and power was reduced to such a state in the blink of an eye.  
He felt like he was in the NDZ. He felt like he woke up in a whole new world, watching the car swerve around mountains of rubble, watching the crooked skyline in the backdrop. 

Two cars behind Ikari Shinji stared out the window as well. Seeing a sight he was all too familiar with. 

***

Amagi sat front and center on the long table, a bouquet of microphones bundled in front of her. To her left were sharply dressed members of their Public Relations department. On her right, four dejected pilots.  
Shokaku Shinji and Amelia Ranger sat as tall and stoic as they could muster.  
Chitose Aoi was shrunken in her seat. Her eyes were red and puffy.  
And Nicole Maury just silently fiddled with her hands the entire time.

It was a memorial and conference filled with a lot of eulogies. A lot of apologies. A lot of bowing. A lot of empty promises to do better. 

Ikari Shinji sat among the onlooking crowd of reporters and civilians with a sick feeling in his stomach. He mourned the pilot's death, he empathized with the tragedy of these people around him, but there was something else. Some scratching feeling he could not shake off. 

Déjà vu.

***

After sitting through an eternity of questions and statements and interviews, Shokaku tiredly went to step back into his escort vehicle when he heard a small voice behind him clear her throat.  
He turned and saw Amelia Ranger standing far off in front of him, awkwardly shuffling her feet. Her bright blonde hair greatly contrasted the charcoal dress she was wearing. 

“Uhm, I’m glad you’re alright, Shinji…” Amelia finally said. 

Shokaku afforded her a brief glance before just shaking his head. He turned around, making another attempt to climb into the car. 

“I just wanted to say…” Amelia blurted out, stepping forward, “...sorry… I guess. I’m really sorry.” 

“I was wrong about you, you know. Or rather I should say I was right about you all along. We should have been there, Ranger,” Shokaku said flatly without looking at her, “we really should have.” 

“I know…” she eyed the ground.

“How can you still call yourself a pilot?” 

“I mean I was reprimanded… but-” she looked up and saw he was looking back at her now. With those eyes. Not of anger, or even disappointment.  
Just pure disgust.  
“That’s not what I meant,” he said. He slammed the car door close, not giving her any time to respond.

“...Right.” 

*** 

Shokaku stared blankly ahead in the back seat of the car. He could see Chitose now as she stumbled into the car in front of his. She was crying again. Bawling. Clenching at an already soaked handkerchief. Her driver had a comforting hand on her shoulder and helped her step up into the car and closed the door for her.  
He hadn’t spoken with her directly since waking up, but what could he possibly say or do. 

He looked down at his silent phone. Shokaku gave a bitter grin when he realized he had unconsciously opened his text app. He tapped on his conversation with Hojo. Part of his mind hoped that there would somehow magically be a new message waiting for him. That he’d hit him up just like he always had. That he'd be there to cheer him up with one of his dumb jokes. 

But there was nothing. Just old conversations. Whisper of the past.

Hojo’s grainy contact picture smiled up at him. 

Shokaku’s own driver opened the door and climbed into the vehicle behind the wheel. He didn’t fail to notice the crying pilot in the back seat, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew it wasn’t his place. He just silently started the ignition. 

*** 

Asuka opened the door to the apartment next to hers where Amelia and Shokaku had been living. The dark studio apartment silently looked back at her. She could see her shadow cast inside, framed by the doorframe and the light from the outside hall.  
It was pretty late now. Any meetings or conferences they would have had to attend would have been long over. If they wanted to be back here, they would have by now.  
They had only all lived together for a week, but it was already feeling all so lonely. And Suzuhara was feeling more and more distant for some reason.  
Asuka let out a sigh. 

*** 

_“And did you see what happened to all the Evangelions?”  
“Western pilots got totally rocked.”  
“Even Ranger?”  
“She got messed up the most…”  
“But didn’t Unit 01 also?”  
“Yeah, trying to save her ass  
“So what are the West pilots even doing there?” _

Ranger clicked off her phone and tried to set it down but the screen lit up and a chime rang out as a notification came through. She grumbled and flicked it onto silent mode, but her phone obnoxiously buzzed as yet another came up. Then another. Then another. 

“God, just shut up! Just shut the hell up!” she yelled out loud and flung it across the room. It bounced up the floor, slammed into the wall before clattering back to the floor. 

Amelia’s chest puffed up and down and she let out heaving breaths of frustration. Her eyes were skewered shut, trying to force out that piercing feeling in her mind. 

“Uhm… do you want some water?” 

Ranger turned over to the doorway of the bedroom where Maury was standing awkwardly with a glass of water. 

“ Oh, I’m… I’m sorry,” Amelia said, “yeah, that’ll be nice…” 

She was staying with her for the time being. She couldn’t go back to that old apartment where Shokaku could be. He didn’t want to see her and she couldn’t bear to see him.  
Ranger accepted the glass and gulped it down before the two decided to climb into bed together. 

A long time passed. Long enough where the two people in bed thought the other would for sure be asleep, but Amelia spoke up anyways. 

“Am I a bad person, Nicole?” she could hear a soft voice mutter. Maury peeked over to her right where Ranger lay beside her, but she had her back facing toward her. 

Maury looked up at the ceiling for a second trying to think of a good answer, “You did a… really bad thing,” Maury said quietly, “but I don’t think that makes you a bad person.” 

“How?” Amelia said bitingly, “I am a bad person. Everyone else probably thinks so. Shinji definitely thinks so...”

“You know, my mom would say everyone does bad things,” Maury said, “But you’re only a bad person if you aren’t trying to change.” 

There was a long pause. 

“I’m sorry for barging in here. I feel like I’m being a bother,” Amelia said, “I feel like I’m always taking advantage of you…” 

“No, don’t even worry, that’s never how I see it,” Maury said, “because we’re friends.” 

Maury felt a small tug of the covers as Amelia curled up beside her. She could hear her softly weep. 

*** 

_August 24th, 2025  
0900 JST_

Ikari Shinji sat in a small chair in a pitch black room, a weak spotlight shone above him. Shinji couldn’t even tell how large the room was supposed to be. He nervously twirled his thumbs and took a peek over to his right.  
In her own chair and spotlight, Captain Amagi sat with her arms and legs folded. She slowly and impatiently tapped her foot. 

Suddenly, all around him, faint holograms of looming figures behind desks glowed to life around him. They encircled the two in a wide semi-circle, all facing their direction. Their faces were masked in shadow and anonymity. The United Nations High Council.

“Captain Amagi. Ikari Gendo,” a voice echoed, addressing the two.  
Shinji saw Amagi bolt out of her chair and give a firm salute and quietly followed suit. 

“At ease…”  
The two slowly took their seats again. 

“Good afternoon, we thank you for your patience. I’m sure you know better than anyone how hectic these past few days have been.”  
“I believe most of the public information has been at least addressed, but there are more… private matters, that need to be discussed...”  
“SHESHA…”  
“We’ve been receiving information on it intermittently, but we’d appreciate an official status report on it.” 

“Well, we last tracked it several kilometers off of Okinawa,” Amagi spoke up, “but we lost track of it about 28 hours ago. We’ve been catching a reading on it here and there so we are still in pursuit, but we have yet to reestablish a solid lead.” 

***

Jeremiah Russell sat attentively in Unit 05 as it perched on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. It was still missing its right arm, but in its left, it propped up the Lance of Longinus at the ready. The UN Combined Pacific Fleet sped through the wide endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Searching. Hopefully. Hopelessly.

***

“So you’re saying it’s missing?” 

“Yes…” Amagi said. 

“Now this is a grave blunder, Captain…”  
“Do we have any reason to believe that this will pose serious danger to us?” 

“Well… yes,” Amagi said, “but if it was going to do something, I’d imagine it would have already done so…” 

“And what do you think, Mr. Ikari?” 

Shinji looked around frantically, “me?... oh uhm… yeah, I think… she’s right… In our world, the Seeds of Life never really waited to initiate anything. All we can really do is wait, I guess...” 

“You mean pray..."  
“Well, continue with the search. I suppose that really is all we can do on the matter.” 

“Speaking of missing, I’m sure all of us here are aware that someone is unable to join us in this meeting.”  
“Commander Suzutsuki has still yet to make any appearance.” 

“He was confirmed to be present at a meeting shortly before the battle up above the Geofront, and was expected to return to Headquarters afterwards. His convoy was seen on traffic cameras on his way there, however, that’s still the last we’ve seen of him,” Amagi said. 

“And for that, this will be the last time we’ll be calling you Captain.”  
“This may seem sudden and under unfortunate circumstances, but you are being promoted to Commander of UN East Branch Naga Operations.” 

“Temporarily?” Amagi frowned.

“No, officially and effective immediately. You will be fulfilling the role and responsibility of Commander from here on out. Congratulations.” 

“What? We can’t just-” Amagi started, “he could still be out there.” 

"It is highly probable that he was killed during the attack."  
“His name has already been added to the list of lives lost.”  
“Unfortunately we don’t have the luxury to wait and see if he turns up.” 

“Even though I messed up?” Amagi said, still in disbelief.

“A Seed of Life on the loose, billions in repairs needed, Angels everywhere. A PR disaster. We need decisive leadership right now.”  
“You’ve worked with the UN for well over a decade now and have an even longer history with us accounting for your father. We are well aware of how capable and how hard you work. Even though losing an Eva and SHESHA was a grave mistake, it’s easy to imagine that it would have ended up worse under anyone else’s lead.” 

“Well… thank you, sirs. I’ll do my best,” Amagi said, but she didn't look all too happy. 

“In addition, we are officially assigning Ikari Gendo to the position of Vice-Commander in UN East Branch Naga Operations.”

“Wait a second,” Amagi exclaimed, “him!?”  
“Me?” Shinji blurted, just as stunned. He was beginning to wonder why he was even in this meeting and now he wished he wasn’t. 

“But, we still hardly even… know him. How can we give him such a position?” Amagi asked vehemently. 

“You and Suzutsuki have been running the show in terms of administrative and tactical Naga Operations in Japan for some time. Training a proper and reliable second in command will not be so simple.”  
“Any Western replacements unfortunately are not very fluent in Japanese and will simply be a hindrance.”  
“In the event that our Commander would... go missing again... we need someone who can quickly step up and properly combat these beings.”  
“And we just happen to have three qualified people already here.” 

“But how can we trust them?” Amagi said. Shinji shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This was just insanity. 

“We don’t. Believe us when we say this was quite a debated and split decision.”  
“But it seems there aren’t many secrets we have that they do not already know of anyways.”  
“Besides, though we do not fully trust him, we do trust you. Although he will have the authority and access granted to him that comes with the position, you are still his direct and immediate supervisor. I do hope you are able to keep him in line, Commander?” 

Amagi just threw her arms up in exasperation. 

“But why me in particular?” Shinji asked, “why not the other two?” 

“You are who we are choosing, and that’s all you need to know.”  
“Do you accept or not? If you refuse, you bring an interesting point, why not just the other two?”  
Shinji winced. That definitely came off as a threat.  
Shinji’s rank may have gone up, but his freedom certainly plummeted. He was beginning to understand. This was just a roundabout way to tighten their grip on the mysterious strangers that maybe knew a little more than they should have while keeping them as an asset.

“I believe that is all there is to discuss...” 

“Wait,” Amagi said, “there was one more thing I wanted to bring up.” 

“Speak.” 

“In the last moments of the pilot of Unit 03, his Evangelion was able to reactivate despite being significantly damaged and out of power. I believe this is something that should be further investigated and looked into. I was thinking we could allocate a research team into...” 

“That’s quite enough.” 

“What?” Amagi frowned, “but…” 

“It is unimportant.”  
“Please do not focus on such irrelevant matters.”  
“Yes, I believe you have a lot more important things you should be worrying about right now, Commander.”  
“Now get to it. We have a long few days ahead of us.”  
“Dismissed.” 

All the screens around them faded to dark. 

***

The two silently stepped out into the hallway. Shinji awkwardly looked over at her, “uhm, I guess I look forward to working with you?” 

“Oh don’t give me that,” Amagi scoffed, “I don’t understand how they could gloss over something like the Evangelion reactivating. That should have been in every sense impossible. AT fields… Berserk… what are Evangelions?” 

Shinji licked his lips, and looked straight ahead. He didn’t answer. He doubted she was really speaking to him anyways. 

Before they could head off, the three head operators suddenly approached them. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Amagi said. 

“We just wanted to know how it went…”  
“That was a lot more brief than I was expecting.” 

Amagi sighed, “well, I was just promoted to Commander...” 

The three exchanged glances, “So what about Commander Suzutsuki…”  
Amagi just shook her head and Shinji saw everyone’s shoulders drop. 

“Well, congratulations, Commander Amagi.”  
Amagi chuckled bitterly, “thanks, I guess. And this one was just promoted to Vice Commander, if you can believe it.” She stuck her thumb towards Shinji. 

He saw the three turn their heads toward him, eyes wide in disbelief. 

Shinji weakly threw his hands up in defense, “I still don’t know why me either, alright.” 

“It’s because you seem weak,” Amagi said quietly. 

Shinji looked over to her in confusion. 

“Langley and Suzuhara carry themselves more confidently, so they purposefully picked the person they assumed to be the weakest and most manipulatable,” Amagi said, “that’s why they picked you.” 

“I... suppose that makes sense,” Shinji said. 

“But they weren’t in the Command Center during operations, while I have been. I hope you know that I will indeed be keeping an eye on you. You and my pilots.”  
And with that everyone watched as Amagi stormed off. 

“Don’t worry about her. She’s always been protective of them, the pilots,” the female head operator said, “She was Hojo’s guardian for 2 years, you know. I’m sure she’s just really upset about what happened... Who wouldn’t be.” 

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Shinji sighed, “thanks, Ibuki.” 

The women smiled, “uhm sorry, but that’s not my name…” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, sorry,” Shinji said, slightly embarassed, “you just… remind me of someone I knew.”  
He had heard the three chief operator names thrown around a couple times, but he never really had to talk them directly for very long. He honestly just called them Maya, Hyuga, and Shigeru in his head. 

“Can you remind me of your names?” 

“First Lieutenant Takao,” she said.  
“First Lieutenant Ise,” a sharp bespectacled man saluted.  
“First Lieutenant Kinugasa,” the man with longer hair winked. 

“Well, I look forward to working with you all more closely,” Shinji said. “I hope you aren’t too upset about my jump in rank. I understand if you are.” 

“Oh no, not at all,” Takao said, “that’s not really our area of expertise. Besides, we’ve already seen you in action. You know what you’re doing. And you seem to mean well.” 

“I just wish, Amagi could see that,” Shinji sighed. 

“Like Takao said, Amagi probably isn’t really even mad at you,” Ise said, “Probably just everything. Herself, maybe?” 

*** 

Shinji walked back into his apartment and went straight to bed and flopped down into it face first. 

“It’s barely noon, you can’t be going back to bed already, Shinji” Asuka piped up. She was sitting at the dinner table fiddling with their laptop. 

“That’s Vice Commander to you,” Shinji groaned, face still buried in the mattress. 

“What?” 

Shinji got up and explained how the meeting went. 

“A promotion, huh? That’s exciting,” Asuka said, “though I think I would have been a better fit, don’t you think?”  
“That’s exactly why they picked me,” he said, “or at least that’s the theory.”  
“Cheeky,” Asuka said. She turned the laptop in front of her towards him “anyways, I went and typed more stuff in on the NERV File. I pretty much added everything I can contribute. You’re going to need to look over it before you have to attend to your new distinguished Vice Commander duties.”  
Asuka said it as a joke but her small smile faded when Shinji simply nodded despondently. 

“Or you could just wait till tomorrow, you know, take the rest of the day off?” 

Shinji shook his head, “no, no, I’ll get it done real quick.” 

Asuka nodded, “well I was going to pick up some drinks at the store, so I’ll be right back.” 

***

Shinji flicked the mouse wheel down, quickly scrolling down through the document he had open in front of him.  
It was close to a final draft of a completed NERV File. Toji had been running off doing who knows what again, much to Asuka’s chagrin, but once they had him read it over and make his own additions, it should be complete. 

His eyes glazed over as words and rough sketches quickly flashed in front of him. 

The glossy blue octahedron reflected off his eyes.  
Wide snapping jaws.  
An eye. A giant eye and a flash of orange crashing into him.  
A cold wasteland of blank white emptiness.  
He saw the glowing double helix halo and he felt his skin squirm.  
His breathing started to pick up.  
Acid  
Virus  
Angels  
Enemies  
Enemies that he had to fight again.  
Enemies that other people had to fight again. 

He came up on the last section of the document. 

The 17th Angel  
Tabris  
Nagisa Kaworu

He looked down at his right hand now trembling as it clutched the mouse.  
His hand. A hand that had fought. A hand that had violated. A hand that had killed.  
Had he … killed again? 

Suddenly his vision focused on a hand gently placing a cold drink in front of him, snapping his drifting mind back into reality, “Hey, are you sure you’re alright?” Asuka asked.  
“I don’t know if I can keep doing this, Asuka,” Shinji let out a heavy exhale, burying his head in his hands.  
“Doing what?”  
“This,” he said, throwing his arms out, “fighting Angels again. I was so confident in the beginning you know? We had already fought these Angel’s before and I had you here. But...”

Asuka took a seat in the chair beside him, “this is about Amagi isn’t it?”  
“I mean not exactly but she’s right about me, you know?” Shinji said, “We-I just keep getting everyone hurt.”  
“No, that’s not right” Asuka said staunchly, “You think it would be any better if we weren’t here? They are tough calls Shinji, but you’ve done nothing but good for them.”  
“You call the other day good? He _died_ Asuka… and I… I made her kill him. Did you see her yesterday? She was a total wreck. They're good kids and I...”  
“Then what were you supposed to do?” Asuka cut him off. 

Shinji didn’t say anything. He didn’t have an answer. 

“Shinji... the Angels, Eva, us even being here, it’s all fucked up. Being an Eva pilot is about the shortest straw you can draw. But it’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. That’s just how life is. You get thrown into some stupid world and then you have to deal with it the best you can. That’s just life.” 

“Yeah…” Shinji just said, “I know…” 

Asuka leapt out of her seat and cracked open the soda she had bought and gulped it down. She let out a loud satisfied breath and raised her drink.  
“It isn’t your fault!” she declared loudly, “So we’re going to keep doing this, alright? And they can’t blame us for what happens, because we’re doing our best and we suffer too. And anyone who thinks differently, I’ll just have to clobber them! I’m sure Suzu would love to hear about anyone who’s got something to say as well.”

“Please, you don’t have to go that far,” Shinji said. 

“As soft as ever, I see,” Asuka sighed, “you’re supposed to be the man here.” 

Shinji just chuckled softly. But he was already beginning to feel better. 

“Then we’ll have to do the next best thing,” Asuka continued, “We’ll show ‘em up. We’ll give them nothing to complain or blame us about! Even if it means throwing away our pride. We’ll do all their paperwork, and we’ll fight all these Angels and we’ll make sure no one else suffers. And like I said, if they do, we’ll be suffering right along with them. For our sake and theirs.” 

Asuka gave another big gulp of her drink. 

He looked up at her with adoring eyes, “I love you, Asuka.” 

Asuka sputtered, choking on the last few drops of her drink. She quickly wiped around her mouth, but kept her hand there, trying to hide her face, “What are you saying all of a sudden, baka Shinji.” 

Shinji let out a laugh. His first one in several days. 

“Go get back to work,” Asuka snapped, “If we’re going to do this right, we need that NERV File completed. So we won’t be caught off guard again.” 

*** 

_August 28th, 2025  
1205 _

“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” Asuka said. 

“What the hell is that?” Toji exclaimed wryly. 

The main screen of the Command Center flashed images of something emerging once more from the Pacific.  
“The pattern is confirmed blue, that’s an Angel,” Ise said. 

The creature was pitch black. It walked on all fours with towering stalking legs. Its head was arched low and swung to and fro. It donned the likeness of a cow skull, but it’s lower jaw was absent and in the place of horns, jagged antlers spiked up like lightning. Pale bony structures outlined its entire body like a coat of armor

Apparently it was an Angel  
But it was an Angel that they had never seen before. 

Shinji squinted and got to his feet. 

No.

Shinji walked up and leaned over the Command Center railing. But in his head, he was leaning over the balcony railing of his old apartment.  
He did see this Angel before.  
It had been in one of his crazy visions. 

His very first vision.

When he saw it then, it marked the beginning of all this. But seeing it now, he seemed to understand that this... this marked the beginning of the end. 

#### By Any Other Name

Amagi sat at the head of the war room.  
Takao, Ise, and Kinugasa were sitting lined up on the right side of the table and Shinji, Asuka and Toji sat on the left. 

“Do you think it has something to do with SHESHA?” Amagi asked calmly.

Amagi saw Shinji cringe a bit, probably expecting to get an earful again. She would have been more pissed at this situation if she wasn’t already so tired.  
But more than that, she knew getting mad wasn’t going to help at all. If anything, Amagi found herself to be quite nervous. There was a lot riding on the success of this operation.  
This was her first operation as the official commander. They needed to restore the public’s faith in them. The UN brass’s faith. People were watching  
And most importantly, she was determined to make sure that this Angel attack would not be a repeat of the last. 

“I don’t see how. If anything, I thought the Naga would start acting up,” Asuka spoke up. 

“So none you of really know anything about this Angel,” Amagi said. 

The three exchanged glances and shook their head. 

“Well, if you don’t know anything then, we’ll have to start from the ground up. What have we got on it so far?” 

“Probably the most remarkable property of the Angel is its AT Field,” Takao stepped in, “The 12th Armor Battalion fired upon it just out the edge of the NDZ as it made landfall. Not only was its AT Field visible to the naked eye, this is the first AT Field we have seen that shows phase properties in the third dimension.” 

They all took a moment to watch footage of a long line of Type 90 tanks blast at the Angel trudging across the ground. Instead of the thin glancing hexagon deflecting the shells, a thick honeycomb wall pulsed around it. 

“Now that’s certainly something,” Asuka said. 

“For comparison, based on our readings, if we had to use a Positron Rifle, we would need about 7 terawatts of energy to confidently break through its AT Field,” Ise said, “and that’s not even accounting for its armor-like layer underneath which we currently have no data on the properties of.” 

“Holy smokes…” Toji said under his breath. 

“The bright side is that it doesn’t seem to display very powerful offensive capabilities,” Takao added, “in fact, it hasn’t showed any signs of abilities for direct attack aside from the nature of its massive size.” 

“Does it not have any offensive capabilities, or have we not presented anything for it to feel threatened enough to use its offensive capabilities?” 

“If Zeruel was an unstoppable force, I guess this would be the immovable object,” Toji snarked. 

“Well I hope it isn’t too much like Zeruel,” Asuka said, “We have a spare Lance but its is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean looking for SHESHA isn’t it.”  
“Right, and we are absolutely not about to pull ADAM’s,” Amagi agreed, “we need to figure something else out.” 

“An Angel is still an Angel,” Shinji said, “We just need its core. Did we happen to see it anywhere on it?”

“No sign of it on any of our visuals,” Kinugasa shook his head. 

“It must be somewhere inside of it like Gaghiel,” Asuka muttered, “probably under all of that armor.” 

“Well, its heading over as we speak. We’ll need to sortie the Evas ASAP. What’s their status?” Amagi asked, “if we are on schedule they should all be operational now right?” 

“Yes, we did expedite the repairs. All four units here are combat ready.” 

A sad smile spread across Amagi’s lips, “right, but are the pilots?” 

*** 

The four pilots sat uncomfortably inside Amagi’s new large and open office lined up in front of her desk. The new Commander sat and looked at them from the other side of the desk. Shinji awkwardly stood at attention by her side.  
Amagi had just briefed them on the situation and was subtly eyeing them, trying to get a read on their expressions. 

All of them were quite unsure of themselves, but the Western pilots seemed onboard. However, the East pilots were showing a bit more reservation. 

“Wasn’t Ranger supposed to have been reprimanded?” Shokaku asked bluntly. Ranger grimaced. 

“She was. As of now she is on probation, but there was no motion to suspend her or the like. She will be a part of this operation.” 

“...And how am I supposed to trust her out there.” 

Amelia got up on her feet in protest, “You can! I… I won’t do what I did last time. I promise.”  
“Yeah right,” Shokaku spat, rolling his eyes, “I’m surprised you’re so ready to jump back in an Eva at all. Have you no shame?”  
“Listen… I know I made a mistake but I want to do better…” 

Shokaku rose up to his feet now, his eyes burning into her, “Oh, I’ll bet. What, so you can get that ‘number one’ spot? You are so self-centered, it's sickening…”  
“That’s not… You’re wrong!”  
“Am I? The only reason you pilot is for yourself...”  
“No,” Amelia desperately said, “no, I pilot for the sake of others!” 

“That’s enough,” Amagi gave a sigh, “Shokaku, I know how you must feel, but If we are even going to be able to touch this Angel, we are going to need the strength of all four of you.” 

“I don’t care!” he hissed, “I don't understand how you can you be so calm about this. Amagi, she killed Hojo!” Shokaku finally snapped. His last words came out in a roaring shout that echoed in through the empty office. 

There was a beat of silence. The only response to his words was the sound of Chitose beginning to cry.  
Shokaku looked down beside him where he saw her try to cover her face and gulp down her emotions. 

“No, Chitose, I…” he started, his expression softening, but he was at a loss for words. He just quietly stared down at her. Everyone did. 

Shinji took a deep sigh. 

“Shokaku,” Shinji said, breaking the silence “why are you so mad at Ranger?” 

“...I already said why.” 

“No, you didn’t. You mentioned a consequence of it. Why are you mad at Ranger? 

“She made a selfish decision,” Shokaku said, “Despite having orders and everyone telling her otherwise she just went and did something without thinking about... anyone else…” Shokaku closed his eyes and shook his head.

“It’s easy to blame yourself or others about what happened. Even I have been spending these last few days thinking about it…”  
Amagi frowned and looked up to the person speaking beside her.  
“But Ranger is to blame for Hojo’s death just as much as Chitose is, or me. Which is not. at. all,” Shinji said. He made sure to emphasize the last part, giving a deliberate look at the two. “East or West, personal grudges, none of that matters. You are all pilots. With something to do. A job. And it’s an awful job, trust me I know, but it’s a job that needs to be done. That’s why in rough spots like these we need to stick together and help each other.” 

Shokaku looked at Ikari with a breathless stare. 

“Just give me another chance,” he heard Amelia whisper behind him.

Shokaku stood there for a moment before simply nodding in resignation. He turned to Amelia, “I’m… sorry…” he let out. He turned to Chitose, “...sorry…” 

“...It’s not just that,” Chitose rasped, “I’m scared, Shokaku. Before Hojo… he.. his Eva… it was-” 

“Chitose,” Shinji simply said, “will you pilot the Eva?” 

The pilot bit her lip and shrunk even further into her seat, “...yes.” 

“That's good. Let’s work all together this time,” Shinji said. 

Amagi begrudgingly nodded. She had let him do it again. She told herself she wasn’t going to let him, but his words seemed sincere... But hadn’t they always? 

She knew something was up with Ikari.  
Right after the UN meeting the other day when she brought up what happened with Unit 03. She saw it in his eyes, in the back of his mind.  
Worry.  
He was afraid of her finding out about something. He cut off Chitose just now too.  
They still had secrets. Things they were hiding things. And they certainly didn’t want her or anyone finding out.  
But was it because he was afraid for himself? Or them…?

it's not like she had never kept the pilots in the dark about things.  
Secrets aren’t always out of malice. 

“Work together, huh.” she mouthed silently. 

***

The four Evangelions were lined up outside the Hakone walls. Unit 01 had with it a huge spool of giant steel cable. They could see their target in the horizon, as it made its slow stride towards them.

“Standby to engage!” Amagi said. 

The four pilots leaned into their seats and their Evas all lurched forward, poised. 

“Operation start. Go!” 

All at once, they began sprinting towards the Angel. He could tell the Angel was towering, but it only grew more and more in size the closer they approached it. And as they confronted it face to face, Shokaku could see that his Eva didn’t even reach half way past one of its legs. 

Shokaku skidded to a stop as the Angels AT Field suddenly flickered to life. A dome of hexagons crackled around it, halting their charge.

“Here we go,” he said. He put forth his hands in front of him, leaning onto the Angel’s AT field, “AT Field maximum power!” 

“Concentrate on one area!” Amagi reminded them, “together!” 

The other three Evangelions huddled around him and put out their arms as well and together they pushed together forward as hard as they could, trying to neutralize the AT Field with their own. . 

The Angel still hadn’t even afforded them a glance. In fact, it continued walking forward as if nothing was even in front of it. The Evangelions stumbled backwards with it trying to make sure they weren’t run over by the advancing AT Field. 

“The AT Field corrosion rate is rising!” Takao shouted, “it’s working!” 

“Don’t let up!” 

The Evangelions crowded closer and closer until they were practically shoulder to shoulder. They could feel it soften underneath their hands. Just a little more and they should be able to...

Unit 02’s hands suddenly sheared through the thick glowing wall and she stumbled through.

“I’m in!” she shouted. 

“Quickly, go!” 

The other three Evas squeezed in though the tear, joining her on the other side, Shokaku making sure to bring along the spool he had. However, as soon as they were inside, the AT Field wall closed up behind them. Instantly, their umbilical cords behind them vaporized and crashed to the floor as the space they stepped through closed up. The four Evas all together switched to emergency power. 

14:59…  
14:58...

“Damn!” 

“The plan doesn’t change!” Amagi shouted, “Focus and keep going.” 

Shokaku dropped down the coil of steel cording onto the ground and the four evas rapidly unravelled it as the Angel continued forward in its slow and steady march, not even registering them as a threat still. 

“Go, go, go!” Shokaku yelled and the four lapped around the Angel’s feet, pulling the thick beam along.  
The Angel groaned and looked down as it tried to lift one of its legs and found it now tangled in a web of the metal cable.

“Pull, bring it down!” 

The four Evas pulled the ends of the cable as hard as they could against the Angel which planted itself firmly into the ground in response. They wrestled with it in a tug of war which seemed to have lasted an eternity until finally, the Angel lost its balance, falling forward.  
It let out a howl as its sheer mass slowly crashed into the dirt and fell over onto its side. 

Shokaku eyed the reserve power timer. 

9:33...  
9:32...

“Quickly find the core!” Amagi yelled. 

Based on initial reconnaissance, the core wasn’t seen anywhere on the surface of the Angel. It had to have been under one of its giant armor-like plating accenting its body. 

Maury jumped up against the upper side of its back and base of its neck, pulling out her prog knife. 

Chitose began gutting at the underside of the belly. 

Shokaku went up to its head. He gulped as the black empty sockets where its eyes would be just looked back at him curiously. 

Amelia Ranger sawed at its flank, digging with her prog knife through the thick bony plating. 

7:11...  
7:10...

The minutes passed by in tense silence as the Evangelions butchered through the Angel in a desperate and wild search. Yet the Angel remained incredibly docile, not showing any signs of moving or even getting back on its feet despite being disassembled. 

Ranger eyes widened in excitement when she ripped off a chunk of armor and saw a sparkling red underneath. Right atop where its spine would be.  
This had to have been it. 

“I think I have it!” she shouted, “over here!” 

She eyed the clock. 

03:08…  
03:07… 

"Hit it! Destroy the core! You don't have much time!" 

Amelia reared back and dug her knife into the core. However, the tip of her blade, just glanced off the glossy core, putting on a weak scratch.

Even though her blow seemed to inflict no damage, it certainly caught the Angel’s attention. After 10 minutes of hacking at the Angel, this time it finally responded. The Angel gave a shrieking reverberating scream that seemed to layer over itself over and over again. 

Its legs began swinging wildly as it tried to twist itself upright again. the tangled cords around it beginning to shake loose. 

“Unit 04 and 06, restrain it, keep it down!” Shokaku shouted. He slid next to Unit 02 and began cutting away at more armor, exposing more of the core while Amelia continued stabbing at it. 

Chitose and Maury hurried over each to one end of the steel cords and pulled, tightening it around its legs once again. 

“Were cores always this durable?” Amelia shouted. She clasped the prog knife with both her hands and lifted it up over her head before bringing it down on the core. But once again it bounced off. She might as well have been hitting marble with a stick. 

02:23…  
02:22...

The Angel reared its head back, looking directly at the two Evangelions that were currently tying down its feet. Its eyes now glimmering. 

“Wait, watch out!” 

Chitose and Maury dropped the steel cables and jumped out of the way, but it didn’t fire a typical beam of energy they had come to expect. Instead a wave of flashing hexagonal light slammed into them as if it were a physical wall. It was as if was using its AT Field as a thrusting weapon. 

The two Evas flew backwards. Despite how difficult it was to enter its AT Field, they tumbled out and through it as if it weren’t there. They scrambled back to their feet and pounded their fist against the AT Field but they could not make it through. Not with just two of them. 

The Angel lifted one of its massive legs up, strands of the steel cable whipping off of it. It brought its leg down and the ground shook as it planted its foot on the ground, getting ready to bring itself back up again. 

Shokaku in Unit 01 rose to his feet in response, but he was taken aback when Unit 02 raced past him. 

“Catch!” Ranger yelled and threw back something at him  
He instinctively caught it and looked down to see her prog knife in his hand now. 

“I’ll hold it down! You get the core!” Ranger yelled at him. 

“Wait, Amelia…”  
“Hurry you idiot!” and with that she launched her Eva into a flying tackle at its leg, sweeping it off the ground.  
The Angel losing its only footing fell back into the ground, its head roughly slamming down. 

Shokaku looked down at the timer 

01:00...  
0:59...

The Angel craned its neck, trying to get Unit 01 in its sights, but Amelia jumped forward, now wrapping her arms around its neck, and wrestled with it, making sure it couldn't get a good look around. “Shinji!” Amelia’s voice rang.  
“I’m on it, I’m on it!” Shokaku shouted. He dug in the two prog knives as hard as he could into the core. Sparks showered into the air as he grinded and scratched the vibrating blades against the core.  
But he could see the tips of the blade begin sinking ever so slightly inside 

00:26…  
00:25...

He couldn’t let something like the last attack happen again. Not to his city. Not to all those people. Not the people he cared about. 

“Come on, come on,” Shokaku growled pushing more and more. 

00:10...  
00:09... 

"Come on..."

“Shinji now-” Amelia shouted in the comms. 

Shokaku pressed harder and harder down into the core. He was pushing so hard he felt like the Eva control sticks might just snap off. His arms and shoulders were beginning to ache as he put every once of energy forward.  
Last time, he wasn’t there for everyone like he needed to be. But he wasn’t going to fail anyone like that ever again. As long as he was here, with his Eva, no one would suffer like that again. He would simply not allow it. 

“Just...fucking... die!” Shokaku screamed with all the air in his lungs.  
Then all at once, the core fissured. Like the last hit while splitting a stone, it snapped open with a thunderous crack as the two prog knives buried into it. The cherry color of the core faded into one of dried blood.  
Shokaku let in a gaping inhale, followed by a deep exhale in relief. 

“I got it,” he said breathlessly, “I got it.” 

All around him he could see the AT field slowly shimmer away into the air. Like it had just been a mirage this entire time.  
The Angel let out one last raspy groan as it began to melt away. The remaining pieces of armor gently touched the ground as its body seemed to liquidize and soak up into the ground without a trace. 

Shokaku continued to catch his breath for a couple seconds before realizing how quiet it all was. But not just because the Angel was defeated.

“Hello?” he asked out loud into the comms. 

No response. 

His eyes furrowed as he called out again for anyone but still, no response. His eyes scanned around his control panel looking to see if something was wrong when his sight landed on the reserve energy timer.  
The numbers silently blinked at him and he silently blinked back. 

00:00...

00:00...

00:00...

And as if the Evangelion realized along with him that there was something wrong, the power in his entry plug cut out, leaving him in darkness. 

Shokaku slowly looked down at his hands in confusion. He realized his ears were ringing. 

_Wait.. how long had he been..._

Shokaku tilted his head up, looking up toward the top of his entry plug. The roof of the plug wasn’t even that far from him, but he still couldn’t see it in the pitch blackness. His eyes widened as the shadow looked back down at him. 

The Eva...  
Like a tiger...  
Like mom...

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a bit to write, it's pretty important for setting up a lot of things.  
> But whew, over half way done. As we reach the back half of the series, these next few chapters are going to get real crazy, so I hope you stick around!  
> Once again thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Trivia  
> -The three chief operators are introduced here, again with a similar naval naming scheme to the original three. If you are curious, I did have a Ritsuko parallel written in, but I couldn't really find a place or meaningful arc they could contribute and I felt I had a whole lot of new faces as it was. The nameless person Toji is talking with in the beginning of chapter 5 was supposed to be him.  
> -Several conversations and lines here parallel with the original NGE but now I get to start paralleling with myself lol  
> 


	10. The Worth of Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone finally gets on the same page.  
> Almost everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion.  
> I don't ever expect to get too explicit or go into great details with violence or more adult themes (wink wink) but this is is very much an Evangelion story so expect some of the themes and tones to be on the darker side. Also a lot of angst lmao.

# Episode 10

#### The Worth of Each Other

_August 31st, 2025  
1313 _

Shinji shuffled through the UN HQ food court flanked by two stoic armed guards that marched along with him.  
Instead of the typical beige uniform, he was now fitted with a sharp brown suit, the UN insignia proudly shining on his chest. But his posture exuded anything but pride.  
He awkwardly stepped up to one of the tables where Toji and Asuka were sitting, already digging into their lunch. An order of food was waiting for him at an empty seat. 

“Hoho, very handsome” Asuka smirked, playfully prodding him as he joined them at the table. 

“It’s stuffy,” Shinji frowned, pulling at the collar. He turned towards the two guards that were escorting him, “uh… you may leave now… I guess.”  
They stiffly saluted and marched off. 

Toji stared at him with a wild expression. A bite of his food hovered near his gaping mouth, frozen in place. “...What the hell is all this?” 

Shinji looked at him puzzled, “did no one tell you? I was promoted to Vice Commander…” 

“You?” Toji leaned back, a hand to his forehead, “when?” 

“A couple days ago,” Asuka said, “you really should be paying more attention." 

Toji looked up and down at his new uniform, “why did it have to be you…” 

“I wish I could tell you,” Shinji sighed. 

“Let me see it, let me see it” Asuka asked. 

Shinji withdrew his freshly printed UN ID and access card and tossed it on the table, “it’s official now…” 

Asuka looked it over enthusiastically, “you really are bad at smiling for a camera,” she said, patting him on the back. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Shinji said, “I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there.” 

“Well if you can’t hack it, why don’t you hook me up,” Toji snickered, jabbing him with his elbow. 

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Shinji chuckled. 

The light hearted banter felt good. A reprieve from everything that was on their minds. From everything going on around them. So distracting, in fact, they almost didn’t notice the high number of guards that were now surrounding their table. 

“Oi, what’s all this?” Toji asked. 

“The Commander would like a word,” one of them announced. And with that, the guards cleared a path and Amagi stepped through. She now also donned a new look. Jet black clothes, pressed and fresh.

The three blankly looked up at her. 

“Oh, it’s just you,” Asuka sighed, turning back to her food. 

“You’re supposed to stand and salute…” Amagi said, grumpily putting her hands on her hips. 

“Hey, we’re eating lunch here, give us a break,” Toji shrugged, “literally… y'know, lunch break-” 

Amagi ignored the two, and looked over at Shinji. “Vice Commander, I’m going to need to speak with you for just a moment,” she said. 

“What,” Shinji whined, “we just got out of a meeting together…” 

“That’s an order~” Amagi sang insidiously. She gave her chest a firm pat, trying to draw attention to the Commander badge. 

“What do you need to speak with him about?” Asuka asked.

“Oh you know, just some Vice Commander duty stuff.” 

“In private?” Asuka asked, arching an eyebrow. She crossed her arms and looked up at her with a glare, “He’s the Vice Commander, but we’re still a packaged deal here.” 

“Sorry to remind you, but I am the Commander of this entire place right now. So what I say will go. So, Ikari, are you coming or is this insubordination?” 

“But my lunch…” he said somberly. Amagi expelled the last of her patience with a scoff and took him by the arm, dragging him away. One of the guards went and grabbed his lunch and joined the rest in escorting them back. 

Asuka got up out of her chair to protest but Shinji put a hand up and gave her a reassuring nod.  
“I’ll be fine, I’ll tell you about it later,” he called. 

“Tch, what is her deal,” Asuka scowled, falling back into her chair.  
Asuka and Toji were left alone at the lunch table where they continued eating in relative silence.  
“Well isn’t this just awkward,” Toji sighed. 

*** 

Amelia Ranger stared wide eyed as the entrance to the UN HQ medical center doors opened revealing Shokaku Shinji on the other side. 

The two locked eyes and stood face to face with each other for a couple seconds. 

“Oh… First,” Amelia finally said, “you’re getting discharged?” 

“I wasn’t seriously injured or anything,” Shokaku said, he winced putting a hand to his head, “Still just have a killer headache though.” 

“Right…” 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Oh me?” she exclaimed. She laughed and scratched at her temple, “I was just visiting someone… that isn’t you,” she quickly added. 

“Oh really?” Shokaku frowned looking back behind him. The UN HQ Medical Center wasn’t very big and was pretty much restricted to UN staff. And Ranger had only been in Japan for a short while, stuck with him for most of that time.  
“Hmmmmm,” he scratched his chin, with feigned obliviousness, “then who might you be here for? Do I know them?” 

“Oh, you know… uhh...” Ranger sputtered.  
It was kind of cute how she tried. Shokaku looked down at her trying to hide an amused smile as she desperately looked for an answer up on the ceiling. 

“...just a friend,” she finally declared. 

There was a small pause, as Shokaku waited for her to elaborate some more. When she didn’t, he just shrugged, disappointed, “...then I guess it couldn’t have been me. Say hi to them for me.”  
He started off past her. 

“W-wait!” 

She suddenly spun around and grabbed a hold of his sleeve. 

Shokaku looked back up at her. She wore frazzled expression, as if she was as stunned as he was about her sudden action. 

“Uh... well, there was something - ”  
“Shokaku?” 

They both looked up and saw Chitose down the hall. Ranger quickly withdrew her grip on his sleeve. 

“I was just stopping by to visit you…” Chitose said, walking up to them. Shokaku could hear Amelia give a defeated sigh next to him.  
“Ranger? What are you doing here?” Chitose frowned, “were you here to visit him too?” 

“As if!” she said, “I’m here for another friend,” Shokaku and Chitose watched as she quickly strutted away into the Medical Center. 

“What was that about?” Chitose asked. 

Shokaku just shrugged. 

“Well, it looks like you’re doing okay,” Chitose said. 

“Yeah, I was just about to head back to my quarters. Care to walk with me? I kind of wanted to talk to you.” 

*** 

“So what did you want to discuss,” Shinji said coyly. The guards closed the door behind them, leaving the two alone in the Commander’s office. Amagi was seated at her desk with Shinji sitting across from her. 

“You know exactly what I want to discuss.” 

“Yeah…” Shinji sighed. He looked down at the plate of food in front of him. He really wasn’t all that hungry. He was just trying to get out of this conversation. Any appetite he did have was certainly gone now. 

“If you need me to jog your memory, at the end of the operation three days ago, the most peculiar thing happened,” Amagi said “During our operation, our Evangelions switched to emergency reserve power which gives them 15 minutes to act. Unit 01 was active for 16 minutes and 7 seconds. During that extra 67 seconds, his synchro rate was tripled.” 

“That’s just… crazy, that’s crazy,” Shinji nodded with dull monotony. “But if you want an explanation for all this, I think you should ask your research division or something..." 

“The only reason I haven't brought you in earlier is because I was doing just that,” Amagi said, “They’re denying everything. And the operation report I sent to the UN was altered. Even as Commander, it seems I can’t touch the topic at all. This thing goes way up…”  
She looked up at him, “but I know what I saw. And the same thing happened with Hojo as well. So I’m going to ask you straight up. What is an Evangelion?” 

*** 

Chitose and Shokaku silently strolled side by side through the UN HQ in silence. 

“How are you doing?” Shokaku started. 

“Me?” Chitose asked, eyeing him, “you have an interesting habit of being worried about others when you’re the one that just got hospitalized.” 

Shokaku gave a chuckle, “I mean, I’m alright now.” 

“Well, I took a good hit from the Angel, but nothing serious at all,” she said, “didn’t even need a check up.” 

“That’s good, that’s good…” Shokaku nodded, “but that’s not really what I meant.” 

“Ah…” 

“I never really asked you… You know, about Hojo and all...” 

Chitose said breathlessly, “Oh… yeah… I’m holding up, I guess. Hearing Mr. Ikari talk about it how it wasn’t our fault kind of helped. But I still can’t help but think…”  
She stopped in her tracks and took a second to gulp down a lump forming in her throat. 

“Hey, listen, Mr. Ikari was right. It wasn’t your fault at all.”

“You seemed like you were avoiding me after that all happened is all…” she said quietly, “I just thought… that you might’ve...” 

“No,” Shokaku shook his head insistently, “no, just the opposite. I just didn’t know what to say to you… I’m sorry. I should have been there for you. But I’ll do better now, so if you need anything just let me know.” 

They arrived in front of Shokaku’s living quarters. 

“You know, there was something else that’s been bothering me too,” Chitose started slowly, “I was trying to tell you the other day, but…” Shokaku watched as Chitose gave a pained sigh, debating on if she should continue. 

“We can talk about it later, no need to rush things…” Shokaku tried to say, but she roughly shook her head. 

“No, this is important. Listen, back with the 14th, Hojo had been downed earlier at like the beginning of the fight. But he… it… it got back up to fight the Angel.” 

“Well… he was… very brave,” Shokaku frowned, not quite following. 

“No, Shokaku. The Eva. It shouldn’t have had any power and looked way too damaged to be functioning normally like that. In fact, it was doing things I didn’t think an Eva could even do. Unit 03… Hojo… the way it moved. I’m telling you, it looked alive.” 

***

“Alive?” Amagi leaned in closer.

Shinji groaned, scratching his head. This was perhaps the gravest sin of the Eva. The fact that it carried the harvested soul of the pilot’s mother. 

Shinji had been in the Eva itself when he came to the realization and he was in a place of great distress, so in the moment, realizing his mother was there with him was a feeling of comfort. But only in retrospect would he understand how truly disturbing it was. 

If he told Amagi here, would he finally earn her trust or would it just deepen the divide? On the other hand, if he continued to withhold it from her, that would just guarantee her being even more wary of him.  
He looked up at her and saw that burning look in her eyes. The desire for the truth. And once again he saw Misato in that glare. 

So he told her.  
He explained how Evangelion were built from the flesh of ADAM. What the Evangelion were hiding under that armor, under that mask. A core. And he explained what it meant to synchronize. You needed a soul in the core, in the entry plug. A pilot's soul. And you needed another one in the Evangelion itself. And the strongest synchronization formed was when that soul was that of a mother. 

When Shinji finished, he just silently watched Amagi's reaction. But there was no fury or denial. Just pure and unadulterated shock. 

"You're being serious?"  
Shinji just nodded in response 

Amagi was tempted to simply dismiss it all, but what reason would he have to gain for fabricating such a story. It was such bold claim that she thought no one would even be able to come up with something like this if they wanted to. 

“What the hell have I gotten myself into,” she simply sighed, “if the pilots ever heard about this…” 

“And that’s why I've been trying to keep the information from getting out to anyone…” Shinji said, “it’s not something they need to know. They have enough to deal with don’t they?” 

***

Chitose and Shokaku said their goodbyes and he stepped into his room and plopped down onto his bed.

Shokaku felt like he had enough to deal with but hearing what Chitose had to say about the Evangelion was a total curveball. He didn’t even know what to make of it.  
He thought about the time when he fought his first Angel. Trying to get that AT Field out. How he could have sworn he felt something. Someone.  
He thought about the thing Mr. Ikari showed them underneath Anatarcica. ADAM. He didn’t say anything then, but it really looked just like an Evangelion. Stripped. Primal. But an Evangelion.  
And he was trying to remember about the day before with the latest Angel. It was all fuzzy and his head was hurting just trying to recollect the pieces. 

Shokaku blankly stared at the ceiling. 

What is an Evangelion? And why was he chosen to pilot it? 

*** 

“He’s really the one who got picked, huh?” Toji said. 

“You’re still on about that?” Asuka muttered. 

Asuka and Toji had reported back to the Command Center and were lazily sitting about as the operators went through their system checks and daily maintenance. 

“How are things going with him, by the way?,” Toji suddenly asked,  
“With Shinji…”

Asuka frowned and gave him a funny look, “fine I guess. Why do you ask?” 

“Oh, you know… just curious…” 

“You wouldn’t have to be if you were around more often,” Asuka said, “where have you been running off to anyways?” She turned to look at him, but Toji was looking down at his hand, gloomily fiddling with a pen. 

“I’ll tell you about where I’ve been," he started slowly, "but there’s something I need to ask you first-” 

***

Shinji jumped as a shrieking alarm began to blare around the room and the office was coated in flashing red. 

The phone on the Commander’s desk began to go off but she already had her hand on it and thrusted it up to her ear before it could finish a single ring. 

“Speak to me.” 

“We’ve just sighted an Angel!” Shinji heard Ise’s voice shout through the phone. 

“Where?”

“In the Geofront! Directly above Headquarters! It just suddenly appeared!” 

Amagi almost dropped the phone.

*** 

A mass of giant feathered wings clumped into a ball floated directly above the pyramid shaped headquarters. The wings shifted in a constant frenzy, lapping over each other, dancing erratically.  
It emitted a soft ringing whisper, like wind chimes clinking in a gentle breeze. 

Suddenly, the wings stopped moving and the sound of bells grew more shrill and aggressive. The Angel screamed an echoing vibrato.  
Dozens of blood-shot eyes sprouted open at once all over the wings. 

*** 

“Hurry and prep the Evangelions for launch!” Amagi shouted, “I’ll be right there.” 

“Right awa-” 

Suddenly, the voice at the other end cut out and there was a loud thunk as the room was enveloped in a sudden darkness and silence. Shinji looked around wildly as the only thing lighting the room was now a small safety light tucked in the corner. Even the alarm had choked out. 

“What was that?” Shinji asked. 

“That was us switching to Reserve Power…” Amagi said gravely. She mashed the receiver button of her phone, but the phone made no sound.  
She bolted out of her seat, practically sending the chair flying backwards, “hurry we need to get to the Command Center.” 

“Right.” Shinji said and he towed behind her. 

Amagi swiped her card and the door slid open but she greeted with a torrent of water that splashed over her feet and into the office. 

*** 

“Shit! What is this?” Shokaku exclaimed, jumping back as the liquid rapidly flowed into his room. It was a lot of water and wherever it was coming from, it wasn’t stopping. The roar of rushing water was deafening.  
Shokaku went to manually close the door but froze just as he was about to. He strained his ear and could hear someone splashing towards him. 

“Wait!” someone called. 

He squinted trying to see where they were coming from but his eyes couldn’t penetrate the murky darkness. 

“Chitose? Hurry! Get in here!” he shouted out. 

“I’m in, close the door!” 

Shokaku saw the shape of someone wad past him into his room and he forced the door close, cutting off the gushing water. 

The water level in his room only got up to his ankles, but through the door, he could hear the crashing sound of liquid thunder by his door. 

“Thanks, you really saved me there.” 

With a sigh of relie, Shokaku reached for his phone and turned on the flashlight function and shone it at the person across from him. 

Amelia Ranger put her hands up in front of her face, “hey watch where you’re shining that thing, idiot, it’s bright.”

#### In the Dark Times

The Angel hovered above the UN Headquarters. From its eyes, amber fluid flowed out like a gentle stream of tears that poured over the UN Headquarters, washing down the sides of its triangular faces and flushing into the underground facility. 

*** 

Shinji squatted over at the puddle of the unmistakable liquid that had gotten into the office before Amagi had closed the door, “Well, that explains that…” Shinji muttered lowly to himself. 

“I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon,” Amagi sighed from behind him, “let’s just hope the pilots made it to the Evas…” 

*** 

“Where did all this water come from?” Ranger huffed, kicking up at the frothing layer of liquid that had flooded the room. 

Shokaku looked down with his flash light revealing its orangish tint, “wait a minute, what is this? Is this...” 

“LCL?” Amelia finished

The two looked up at each other. Sure they kept LCL reserves in the base somewhere, but it certainly wouldn’t be enough to flood the Headquarters like this. Only one thing could cause such a sudden and implausible catastrophe. Shokaku was reminded of the emergency alarm that went off which was why he was heading out his room in the first place.

“Angel.”

“Well what do we do?” 

*** 

“Is there even anything we can do?” Amagi fell back in her Commander seat, “what am I even doing here.” 

Shinji looked over at her curiously, “Hey, you asked me a bunch of questions, so let me ask you something.” 

“What is it?” 

“Why did you join the UN?” 

Amagi looked up at him, “is this really the time?” 

“I mean,” Shinji scanned around the room they were currently trapped in, “I think we might have some time in here. Besides, it's not like you haven’t seen me ask the pilots why they pilot. I really do think it's an important question for everyone here to ask.” 

She seemed to toss his question in her head for a few moments before finally speaking up, “It’s because of my father, I suppose.” 

“I see,” Shinji mused, “Let me guess, is he... dead?” 

“No, but sometimes I wish he was,” she growled, “The old man just won’t throw in the towel.” 

“You don’t get along with your father, huh?” Shinji smirked, “it was the same with me.” 

“He’s a well known figure in the UN. He oversaw the expedition that discovered and researched ADAM, but even before that, he was a very active military leader in fighting the Naga. Lots of medals. Lots of recognition. I guess his name is usually out of general public knowledge, but if you’re in the UN, you know who my father is.  
“So It was basically decided at birth that I would follow in my father’s footsteps. My mom would always say I could do what I want but even she always seemed to push for this route.” 

“But did you ever think about actually not joining the UN?” 

“Are you kidding me?” Amagi scoffed, “all the time. To this day. Who’d want to willingly work in this crummy place. All the politics and the destruction and the dying...” 

“Well what would you have wanted to do instead?” 

Amagi smiled to herself, “I think I might have wanted to be a florist.” She looked over after he didn’t respond for a beat and saw Ikari’s surprised reaction, “is that weird?” 

“No, no,” Shinji said, “But I wouldn’t have guessed it. You like flowers?”

“Since I was little,” Amagi said, her words came out in a slow float as her mind seemed to drift, “I don’t know, I just think they’re pretty. And they make people happy. And when there’s flowers and people around, there’s usually love and peace. You know, Weddings, romance, even funerals I guess…” 

Shinji nodded and he rubbed his hands, unsure what to say next, “You really like them, huh? Well, do you know any, like, I don’t know, flower facts?” 

Amagi paused for a moment before looking back at him with a shrug. She still had that smile on her face, but her eyes had an unmistakable sense of longing. 

“I don’t.” 

There was a long silence. 

“But that’s just how it goes I suppose. I don’t know, I guess I just learned to shut up and go with what I’m told.” 

“Preaching to the choir,” Shinji said. 

Amagi looked over at him with a suspicious eye, “Isn’t this the part where you try and spin it around and make me want to be here? Like with the pilots?” 

Shinji chuckled a bit nervously, “I told you it’s not like that.” 

“Then how do you see it?” Amagi offered, “because I hate it. I hate that they were forced to be here and do all this. Like I was. When that 14 year old boy showed up at the UN HQ five years ago, all I could see was myself. Maybe that’s why I took him in. And everyday, I would hope that he’d want to quit. Or just run away.  
“But then you showed up, and have been filling their head with some… interesting… ideas. And they seem to be taking a shine to you. To piloting even. I just don’t get it.” 

Her words didn’t come out in anger. There was no wrath coating her words. It was more of a bitter tone. One of frustration. Of failure to understand. 

“Well for one,” Shinji said carefully, “I say what I say because I think that all the pilots do want to be here. They _do_ want to pilot. If they really really didn’t want to be here, they would have run away a long time ago. Trust me.” 

Amagi let out a scoff, but didn’t say anything, prompting Shinji to continue. 

“This goes back to my father. He was a pretty important guy too… I understand a lot of his intentions now, but there are still many things I haven’t forgiven. Perhaps I will never forgive.  
“And one of those things was that he didn’t listen to what I wanted. Rather, he didn’t seem to care. Because deep down, I did want to be there and pilot for him. But he never acknowledged it. He wouldn’t look my way.  
"So here, I didn’t want the pilots to feel that way. Not like with me and my father. Just having someone to affirm the reason you’re there. Praise you for doing it. I think it’s really important.” 

“But how can you assume that they want to be here like you did?” 

“I didn’t assume,” Shinji smiled, “And that’s why I ask that question. Amagi, have you ever even asked why they pilot? Or if they enjoy piloting? Or if they want to pilot in the first place? Or was it you who assumed that they wouldn’t want to and that the best choice for them was to leave.” 

Amagi gaped at him for a second, but groaned at the realization, “every time Shokaku would go and do something risky in the Eva, I scolded him for it…” 

“You don’t seem to fond of your father for basically forcing you to do something you didn’t really want to. So maybe that’s how the pilots feel when you discourage their piloting...?” 

“Low blow,” she responded.

“Sorry.” 

“But you’re right. I was specifically trying not to be like him, what the hell…” 

“It’s easier than you think,” Shinji agreed. 

“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, indeed,” Amagi whispered, “so what, you think I should just… try and encourage them going out and risking their lives?" 

"Well, when you put it like that, it does seem crazy, but we need those pilots to get in the Evas and they have understood and accepted that. So, maybe just a little support would be nice." 

Amagi quietly nodded, "you know, you're a good kid." 

"Oh please," Shinji said bashfully, but he was relieved that he seemed to have gotten closer with her, “Speaking of supporting the pilots, we should try and get going, they're going to need us.” 

“But what are we supposed to do now?” Amagi asked. 

“Well, now that I’m thinking about the past, I’ve been in a similar position before back in my world,” Shinji explained, “We also lost power back then, and how we got around was…” 

*** 

“The vents…” Ranger mused, looking up. 

“What?” Shokaku asked. 

“We can use the vents.” 

If the LCL had really flooded every nook and cranny, then it would surely be flowing in through the ventilation. But as Shokaku and Amelia shined their phone lights upwards, they saw the ceiling dry and leak free. 

“You think it’s wide enough to crawl through?” Amelia wondered out loud.

“If there’s an Angel out there, we’ve got to try. We need to get to our Evas,” Shokaku said, “Here, I’ll give you a boost.” Shokaku offered his hand to her. 

“Don’t you think I should give you a boost?” Amelia said. 

“What? Do you think you can lift me up?” Shokaku frowned, "besides, I'm taller too. Once I get you up there, I could probably use the bed to reach it myself." 

“Hey, I work out. You don’t have to worry about me,” she insisted, "and I can jump high..." 

"What are you doing? Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" Shokaku said, beginning to lose patience. 

"Why do you think I can't lift you up?" Amelia shot back, "I can do it, watch." 

"Just let me give you a boost!" Shokaku yelled, his voice rising with his temper. 

"I'm telling you I don't need one," Amelia insisted, "just let me do this!" 

"But why?" They were losing precious time because of something so petty. It reminded him of their whole breakfast ordeal when they first started living together. She always needed to have a leg up. She always had to have the final word, the final laugh. And it was infuriating. "Why do you try so hard to be perfect?” 

“You wouldn’t understand!” she shouted, “I do have to be perfect. For them… for them. I need to be perfect...” She fell back onto his bed. The light in her hand rocked as she clutched her phone in a quivering grip. 

Amelia sat there for a few moments, somberly looking down at the phone in her hand, but when she finally looked up she saw that Shokaku was looking right at her with an annoyed expression on his face. 

“Uhm, are you stupid?” Shokaku said. 

“Wh.. what?” Amelia was so taken aback by his response that most of her upset and disarrayed feeling were replaced with confusion, “I’m being serious here...” 

“I know,” Shokaku said, “and that’s the worst part. Come on, who cares what some random people on twitter or whatever say. Shouldn’t you be more concerned with what the people around you think?” 

“I mean… I guess…” 

“Well, I’m people around you and I already know you aren’t perfect, so don't even try," he said, giving her a look, "but I also know how hard you work. And yeah it sucks that even when you try your hardest you can't be perfect, But that's why we're here. We're all in this together remember? Like Mr. Ikari said..." 

She looked up at him warily as he offered his hand to her. "So come on, stop thinking about that stuff and let me help you, dummy. We got an Angel to fight. And in the ends that's what matters.” 

Ranger studied him for a few beats before letting out a sigh and firmly taking his hand, "baka Shinji..." 

*** 

“This is a bit tight you know,” Amelia grumbled, shimmying her way through the dark. Elbows and knees bounced against the metal corridor in loud echoing bangs. She could hardly imagine this being practically used for stealth purposes as movies seemed to depict. 

“Really, it’s not too bad for me,” Shinji said. 

“What are you implying!” Amelia shouted back behind her. 

“Er, sorry.” 

"And no looking up!" she snapped, "this is probably why you wanted me to go first." 

"Seriously, who do you take me for..." 

*** 

A loud yelp echoed through the Evangelion docking bay followed by what sounded like a comedic crashing of cymbals. The two pilots burst through the ventilation shutters and landed on the floor on top of each other with a dizzying oof. 

“Wow, I’m glad that worked out,” Shokaku muttered. The docking bay was a huge room. If they had fallen out of the shutters a couple paces down, they would have surely plummeted to their death. “Hey, get off of me.”  
He pushed aside Ranger, who was still disoriented from the tumble, “ow.” 

“I can’t believe we actually pulled that off,” Shokaku groaned, getting back onto his feet and stretching his legs, “I doubt Amagi would have approved…” 

“You’re late.” 

Shokaku croaked as he turned around and was face to face with the Commander herself. 

“Amagi… what are you doing… here…” Shokaku started but he trailed off as he finally took a good look around him. It was clear that the docking bay was not spared from the power outage. The giant hangar that was usually filled with the hum and buzz of machinery was drowned now in an uncomfortable silence. A dim ambience shrouded the place.  
But all around he saw the swinging beams of flashlights as technicians and mechanics scurried up and down the catwalks. He saw an entry plug being heaved into place by rope and labor. He saw a room still filled with energy. 

“We’ve already prepped the units for manual launch. Is it just you two?”

“I… uh… yeah,” Shokaku said, turning his attention back to her.

“I suppose that’ll have to do,” Amagi said. 

"You did all this by hand?" Shokaku asked in disbelief. 

"Well, there is an Angel out there we need to take care of," Amagi said, “and I had a feeling that at least you would show up..."  
She cleared her throat as Shokaku gave her a look of wonder, "but it’s going to be tough, Even if we did have the time and equipment to hook your Evangelion up with umbilical cords, I doubt the base has enough power running through it to do anything. So you’re going to need to get up there and beat it using just your reserve power.” 

“Just make things interesting, why not,” Amelia huffed.  
“We don’t even know what it looks like,” Shokaku mused. 

“What, you don’t want to pilot?” Amagi asked. 

“No, no” Shokakau said quickly, “we’ll do it.” 

Amagi smiled, “I thought so. Prepare for launch!” 

*** 

With a shout, Ranger kicked open one last door and the two Evangelions emerged into the open air of the Geofront where they got their first look at the Angel, hovering over the apex of their Headquarters, showering it with its stream of LCL. But they couldn’t afford to dwell on it for too long. They began to rush forward towards the Angel, closing the distance. 

“Great, just our luck, all we got our prog knives and it flies,” Amelia said bitterly.  
“We only have seven minutes of power left, we have to think of something,” Shokaku said.  
“Uhm, maybe we have less, look.” 

The Evangelions arrived at the base of the Headquarters, but the Angel was not oblivious to their presence. Before their very eyes, it had begun to rise higher and higher into the sky. Farther and farther out of reach. 

“Damn, we won’t be able to get to it at all!” Ranger shouted, “what do we do?” 

“Amelia,” Shokaku called over to her urgently, “vent!” 

She turned to him with a confused expression, but her eyes widened in realization when Unit 01 bent on one knee, cupping its hands in front of it. 

Without hesitation, Ranger hopped a few steps back and gunned forward at full speed towards him. Shokaku let out a strained grunt as Unit 02 leapt onto its hands and, with all his strength catapulted, his arms up, sending the Evangelion hurtling upwards in a clean arc straight to the Angel rising into the air.

The Angel responded. Its gentle wind chime now morphing into a menacing cacophonic chorale of a ringing carillon.  
In a brilliant and blinding flash of light, the dozens of wings suddenly spread open in full display, revealing its splendor. Its wingspan was magnificently enormous, almost shrouding the entire ceiling of the Geofront with its feathered reach.  
But by opening its wings, it revealed the origins from which the wings were sprouting from. A red pearl singing its song.  
The eyes that littered the feathered wings began to dart around in sporadic mania until, all at once, their gaze locked straight onto the Evangelion flying towards it.  
The pupils constricted in unison as a twinkle of light began to form in front of each. 

“Amelia!” 

“Too late!” Ranger shouted, but she didn’t mean for herself. The Angel let loose a hellfire of energy blasts that showered the Geofront, carpet bomb style. Shokaku hugged the UN headquarters trying to shield it with his AT Field and his body as all around him, earth shattering and earsplitting explosions enveloped the ground in a blanket of fire. 

But none of the beams hit their supposed target. By the time they had fired off, Ranger was already directly in front of the core, too close for it to aim upon. With a charging shout, she swung her prog knife down using all the strength she could output in her Eva, only being amplified by the momentum she was carrying flying through the air.  
The tip of the blade plummeted into the core and the Angel gave one last toll before falling silent. 

Ranger hovered there in the air for a couple moments, hanging on just by the hilt of the knife jutting from the core, but she felt the air rush up past her as the Angel began to drift down to the ground. 

Shokaku peeked his eyes open after the last of the tremoring explosion subsided and looked up to the sky where the Angel had begun to make its slow and graceful fall.  
As soon as she felt comfortable, Amelia released her grip on the prog knife and rolled onto the ground and watched as the remains of the Angel settled onto the floor.  
The feathers on this Angel, once a pure and glowing white, were now browned in rapid decay, shriveling up and flaking. 

“Amelia, get down!” 

Ranger was taken by surprise as Shokaku suddenly grabbed hold of her from behind and threw her down onto the ground with him.  
Many Angels had a tendency to violently explode upon defeat, and Shokaku closed his eyes and braced for impact. But instead of a fiery send out, the wings of the Angel erupted in a geyser of blood. Thick red liquid gushed high into the air before crashing down into the ground and washing over the surface of the Geofront. 

The two Evangelions lay there on the ground for a long while, the new sea of red liquid rushing past and around them. They saw the miniature flood hit up against the pyramidal Headquarters like a humble wave against the shore of a calm beach. 

Amelia sat there in her entry plug holding her breath. Not sure what she was waiting for. But through the communications, she heard Shokaku begin to laugh, breaking the silence.  
“What?” she began, a bit confused, but he just continued to laugh. It was a hearty one. Maybe out of relief. Maybe it was the awkward position they were lying in. Maybe it was because everything was alright.  
She wouldn’t have been able to tell you why Shokaku was laughing and she certainly wasn’t able to tell you why she began to laugh too. But she did. Right alongside him. 

***

_August 31st, 2025  
1910_

Amagi and Shinji drove the pilots out up to the outskirts of Hakone. Although large parts of the city had been destroyed it was good to see there was still some parts still untouched. 

They hopped out of the cars and stood in the night right in front of a humble karaoke place. 

“Er, what is this?” Shokaku asked, "I thought we were all going to your place?” With headquarters still flooded, the pilots had all lost access to their living quarters. 

“Well, you guys have been through a lot, so I thought we’d stop by here first and and let off some steam,” Amagi said, “A little reward for all the good work.” 

“But why karaoke?” 

“Are these out of style now or something?” Amagi asked. 

“No, no, it’s just a bit… I feel like we’re too old for this, no?” 

"I'm not super fond of singing either," Amagi sniffed. 

“What?” Amagi said in disbelief, “Karaoke is for everyone!” 

“Karaoke places are quite rare in America, I don’t know, it could be fun,” Maury piped up. 

“Plus, they do serve drinks here,” Amagi pointed out. 

“It’s not like you’ll let us drink anyways, though.” 

Amagi smirked and spun around towards them, holding up two fingers, “I’ll let you have 2.” 

“No way,” Ranger said, but excitement was rising in her voice. Though none of the pilots were of legal age to purchase alcohol, they were old enough to consume. However as pilots, they weren’t allowed to so much as even look at the substance. 

“As Commander, I’ll make an exception,” she whispered, with a cheeky wink “don’t tell anyone.” 

“Karaoke it is, baby.” 

*** 

The pilots and Amagi all clinked their little glasses of beer and all took a swig. 

“Wait, this… kinda sucks,” Shokaku frowned smacking his lips. 

“I think it tastes alright,” Amelia winced, “I .. like it?” 

“The same way you like your coffee black,” Shokaku huffed, “quit tryin’ to act tough, missy.” 

“Hey, quiet you.” 

“I think I quite like this,” Maury giggled.  
The two looked over at her, the glass in front of her already empty. Shokaku and Ranger exchanged a glance before they both quickly grabbed their drink again and gulped down the rest of it down as quickly as they could. 

“It’s not a competition guys…” Chitose laughed as they forced it down, unable to stop their faces from contorting in displeasure. 

***

After a few rounds of group singing, Maury was the one to first opt for a solo performance much to everyone’s surprise. Her second glass of beer seemed to evaporate in the blink of an eye before she confidently put on a rock ballad and began bellowing the lyrics from her soul. 

Amagi sucked some air between her teeth before taking a sip of some of her own beer, watching the usually reserved Maury give a wild performance from afar. Maybe she was being too generous here.

Chitose and Shokaku swirled their second drink in their hand. 

“Remember how Hojo tried to get his hands on some beer with that fake ID he got?” Chitose smirked.  
“All the store vendors recognized him instantly,” Shokaku chuckled, “And when he finally did get someone to sell him some, UN intelligence caught him immediately.”  
Chitose snickered, “He didn’t even get to take a can out of the box,” she studied the drink in her hand, “he never got a taste…”  
“Well, then this one’s for him,” Shokaku said, holding out his glass.  
Chitose nodded sadly, but with a fond smile on her face. They clinked their glass and downed the alcohol. 

“I can only hope he would have actually enjoyed this,” Shokaku grimaced. 

*** 

_2104_

Maury lay on the couch in the back of the karaoke room, hand on her forehead and her eyes closed seemingly retired for the night. Shokaku was holding the microphone between him and Chitose as they yelled the last lines of the song they were dueting before it faded out into silence.  
Ranger gave a cheeful round of applause.  
“I’m going to the restroom,” Chitose said, practically out of breath.  
Ranger watched her hop up to her feet and leave the room. She was surprised to see Shokaku in front of her when she turned back, the song selection pad in her face. 

“All this time and you haven’t sung anything yet,” Shokaku said, “come on, show us what you got!”  
“Oh, no, no,” Ranger smiled, putting her hands up, “I’m fine being back up here.”  
“What? Amelia Ranger resigning to back up? What is this?” 

Amelia shuffled in her seat. Shokaku withdrew the song selection pad and began fiddling with it furiously. He pushed a last few confirmations before the driving beat of drum and bass began to blare. Her eyes widened as she recognized the tune instantly.

“Sing with me,” Shokaku goaded, nodding to the beat and trying to wave her towards him, “I happen to know this is your favorite song~~” 

“Yeah when I was like 15…” she scoffed. 

“So why is it still there in your Twitter bio?” Shokaku smirked. He turned away from her as the tempo brought in the first verse:

_Space Girl~~~ Show my the stars  
You know~~ the galaxies of my heart _

He began skipping around Amelia as he dramatically delivered the lyrics. The pop music was infectious and before she knew it she was bobbing her head to the beat. 

“Eh? Feeling it now? Eh?” Shokaku teasingly waved the microphone in front of her as the song entered an instrumental break, “My english isn’t good enough to get me through the whole song you know.” 

“Look, I’m not a great singer, okay? I don’t really like my voice…” Amelia started. 

“Ah, who cares!” Shokaku declared, “I’ve already been hearing your singing voice all night when you were being back up or whatever. Even Maury sang, what are you afraid of here?” 

Amelia gave a chuckle and looked down at her sleeve.  
And she thought about those pink pajamas.  
The chinks in her armor. 

“I mean, I guess, if you really don’t want to…” Shokaku said scratching the back of his head. Contemplatively looking at her sleeve made her appear downcast, but instead, Amelia leapt up to her feet snatched the microphone out of his hand just as the second verse dropped.  
Shokaku whooped as she began to holler into it. 

_Space Girl, I saw a lunar eclipse  
Looked like how I feel 'bout your hips _

She was bobbing up and down, feeling the beat as Shokaku shouted the chorus along with her. Chitose burst through the door, also joining them. Maury was still on the couch with her eyes closed, but a sweet smile escaped from her lips. 

_Space Girl, the only way that we'd end  
Was if you were sucked into a black hole!  
But I'd still spend my days dreaming 'bout you  
Tell me how to  
Stop dreaming 'bout you~ _

Shinji watched from the back of the room, unconsciously tapping his foot with them. He was extremely happy for them, but deep down, he couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.  
The cold and steel hearted Rei, the abrasive and standoffish Asuka. Toji almost getting killed. Kaworu being an Angel. He could hardly ever imagine them singing and dancing together like this. Not back then. Not in those times.  
But maybe somewhere in those infinite number of universes and timelines, they were. The thought of it, put a warm smile on his face. 

However it faded as he checked his phone, looking down at the time. 

He told Asuka that they’d be at the karaoke place and even texted her the address, but she had yet to respond at all. He was beginning to get worried. They’ve been here a couple hours now.  
He lightly tapped Amagi on the shoulder, “hey, I’m going to check out early. You sure you can take them all to your place?”  
She looked up at him, “oh alright. Yeah, my car and apartment should be able to accommodate them. And I hardly drank.”  
“This was good… what you did today,” Shinji said, “I think they really needed it.”  
Amagi gave him a smile, “thank you. For everything.” 

Shinji patted her on the shoulder and hurriedly exited the room and climbed into his car.

*** 

Not long after Ikari left, Amagi’s phone began to ring. She looked down and saw it was from one of the head UN operators, First Lieutenant Ise. 

She looked up at the pilots who were gleefully deciding their next song. Discreetly, she slipped out of the room and answered the call. 

“Commander Amagi here, what’s the matter?” 

“First Lieutenant Ise speaking, just wanted to let you know about the Headquarters restoration.”

“How’s the progress?” 

“Well we confirmed that none of the LCL reached Terminal Dogma so there’s nothing to worry about there. But we still have plenty of LCL to pump out and we’re still trying to restore the main power.” 

Amagi nodded, “Can we get it up soon?” 

“We’ve found the problem and it should be up in a couple hours. But Commander there’s something odd...” 

A grave expression formed over Amagi’s face, “What’s wrong?” 

“To restore the main power we need to replace one of the primary power transformers of the system. It was found to be completely destroyed.” 

“So? What are you saying?” 

“I’m saying that it was only the one transformer. Secondary and tertiary circuits and even the rest of the primary are all completely fine. The LCL was obviously the Angel’s work. But that power outage. It wasn’t.” 

***

Shinji let out a sigh of relief when he saw Asuka sitting at the dining table. Looks like she was alright. 

But immediately after, he realized he may have been too quick to draw that conclusion. 

She was sitting alone with a glass and bottle of whiskey, with only the far off lamp light illuminating her. 

“Asuka?” he started carefully, slowly approaching her. 

“Oh , hey,” she said looking up. She let out a labored sigh. 

“What’s wrong?” Shinji asked, “I texted you and even tried calling you on the way here, but you weren’t answering your phone…” 

“It’s…” she grimaced, pinching the bridge of her nose, “a long story… Look, I’m sorry, but could we not talk about it right now? Maybe another time…” 

“Asuka…” Shinji went to put an affirming hand on her shoulder. Give it a nice rub like how she always liked it. 

“Dont!” she snapped suddenly, and Shinji flinched, his hand retreating back by his side. 

“Sorry, it’s just...” she shuddered, “not tonight, please?” 

Shinji gazed down at her silently as she took a gulp from her drink. “Not tonight but later, right?” he asked quietly, “you’ll tell me about it later?” 

Asuka just nodded but it was more of a brush off than a reassurance. Shinji sighed and stepped away to get ready for bed. 

*** 

Shinji slid under the covers before pretending to fall asleep. Even if he had wanted to, like hell he would catch a wink. His mind was churning, doing mental gymnastics, trying to decipher the reason for Asuka’s strange behavior. Piece something together, Some explanation.  
It’s been a long time since he had seen her so distraught. And it’s been an even longer time since she was in such a mood where she would deny him outright like this. When she did get this upset in the past, he could usually deduce what the cause was, but that was when they were attached by the hip. Here, they have been running around doing their own things. Could it have something to do with the Angel? Was it something he did? 

After some time, he could feel Asuka shuffle into bed next to him, which put his mind at ease just a little, but there was still a space.  
A space between their bodies.  
A space between them. 

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, thank you to everyone who has stuck around and made it this far. Big shoutouts to any and all people who have commented as well. It’s a huge motivator for me and I really do appreciate them all.  
> I would call this the end of the second arc. It was difficult for me to get through because it really does have more a focus of the OCs and Shinji’s relationship with them. Now I know OCs are hard for people to get onboard with so having them right there in the limelight was a bit of a challenge, especially since I don’t have a lot of confidence or experience in writing fanfics yet. There’s still a lot I need to learn, but I hope I did an okay job.  
> If any readers are kinda tired of em, don’t fret. As we enter the third arc, hopefully I teased well enough that the focus will be going back to the OG trio and the main man Shinji prime from here on out.  
> Thank you all! 
> 
> Trivia  
> -The title of the second act of this chapter is a reference to _The Svenborg Poems_ , a collection of poems by Bertolt Brecht. Some of my chapter titles are allusions to pretty well known works so I don’t mention them in the trivia section(such as the previous chapter) but I thought this one might be a bit less known. The poem(?) itself that I’m referencing is short but sweet. I like it a lot.  
> -The song briefly mentioned is _Space Girl_ by Frances Forever. I think its neat and its tone matches what I was going for in the scene. Plus, if I ever include lyrics, they just might be relevant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-22Ph1ofcI  
> -This chapter is really meant to solidify Amagi and Amelia as more foils than parallels to their counterparts. Idk if this should even be here, but like I mentioned, I’m not greatly confident in my writing lol.  
> \- This new Angel is of course lifted from what a traditional seraph is depicted as in biblical text. Maybe not the most original or inspired concept, but I think its abstract concept has its place in Evangelion. This whole story is also supposed to be a soft reference to the Great Flood story as well. Washing away all the negativity with a rainbow of promise at the end. Sort of.


End file.
